The Darkness Within
by ToothlessFuture
Summary: After defeating the dragon warrior, Lord Shen sails to his victory. Only then he finds out that the reality of the conquest isn't that easy, even with the cannons by his side...
1. Prologue: Story of Hui Huang

**~The Darkness Within~**

**-Prologue: The story of Hui Huang-**

Fei Cui was a small province at the root of Himalayas, North of the more famous province of Gongmen. Despite its small size, Fei Cui was one of the richest provinces in whole China. The wealth came from the many gem mines that were digging deeper and deeper into the crust near the capital of Fei Cui, the Green City.

Such riches had to be managed well, and the rulers of the province were very skilled diplomats, choosing to maintain alliances with the nearby provinces instead of trusting in military power. That was mostly due to practical reasons though, as the small state with small population couldn't maintain an army, nor could it produce all the food it consumed. So being in good touch with neighbors was a must.

That's not to say that the rulers of Fei Cui didn't like peace, but being creatures that are somewhat vain in nature, they had to display their superiority somehow. The clan in rule achieved this with their excellently crafted jewelry and a royal guard of magpies trained so well and looking so magnificent in their golden armor that there was no match to them in the known world. The rulers of Fei Cui province were the Emerald Peafowl clan, and the man (or peacock) in power was Lord Zang. Zang had inherited his title from his father who had died only a few months ago, and now he was facing a problem that included another kind of display. Much to his dismay.

The name of the clan came from the colors of their feathers and the shape of their crests and eyespots, which reminded cut gems. It should be mentioned that they weren't ordinary peafowl that were found ruling some of China's provinces, but instead they were green peafowl, originating from the island of Java. Why they left their home in the first place is unknown, but once the clan settled to Fei Cui, they were there to stay. They had been ruling it with gentle but firm grip for centuries, and Zang was now part of that continuity.

Being a new ruler, he had to establish his position first. The clan consisted of rivaling families, each doing their best to get into power, or at least as close to it as possible. Ugly game wasn't too rare, and unless Zang showed he was capable to rule (basically holding the other families in line and showing them who's boss), his reign would end up rather short. With a messy end.

Zang trotted around his throne room in the Emerald Palace restlessly. He couldn't find a solution to his problem. Perhaps he was overcomplicating it to himself, but he couldn't afford a wrong choice. It would cost him everything.

He was lucky enough to not have any siblings, or things would be more dangerous now after his father had died. His father never had had that privilege, and around the time Zang hatched, his father was forced to banish other of his two brothers to ensure Zang's safety. Keeping the family line in power was the most important thing, but having too many heirs wasn't good; the younger ones weren't always content with the fact that eldest got everything. No need to say where that leaded.

But yes, keeping the family line in power was Zang's problem at the moment. He needed heirs. In other words, he had to marry. Besides, he wouldn't be considered a good ruler without a wife.

It wasn't that much of a problem if he didn't think it any deeper. He was the Lord of Fei Cui after all; he could get anyone he wanted. And the family heads would love to get their daughter in power. Yes, why not just pick the most gorgeously beautiful peahen around, get married, and make some chicks. Perfect, eh?

Except that it was just one side of the business.

The Lady of Fei Cui wasn't just a wife to the lord, but essentially a co-ruler. Whoever he'd choose to marry, Zang would've to manage with her the rest of his life, even in the politics. And that's not counting the fact that if the ruler _happens_ to die before he has any heirs, the power shifts to the lady's family. What a perfect opportunity to certain, most power-hungry families to get their desired position.

No, Zang had to be very careful in this. He needed someone he could trust. He didn't know many peahens; the life of a royalty was rather formal, and in the end, lonely one.

But there was one. One peahen he had been friends with in his childhood, when he had still had time for that kind of things. Mei Yu. She was his cousin, actually. And last time he had seen her, she had been quite pretty, too. It was just that Zang was feeling really awkward of this. His uncle would agree without a blink of an eye, no doubt, but what he was worried of was what Mei Yu would say. Perhaps he wasn't thinking rationally, but he got the feeling it wouldn't go too well. They had been friends, but haven't really seen in years now, and then he'd suddenly appear to ask to marry her. What if she already had a loved one? As the lord, Zang would of course beat any contestant, but the result would be far from desired.

Anyways, Zang couldn't wait any longer. All the eyes were on him (figuratively of course), and he had to make a decision. Besides, what was the worst thing that could happen?

Oh yeah, he could die. So nothing to worry about.

* * *

><p>Mei Yu was casually walking in the garden of her family's mansion, enjoying the warm summer afternoon, when she spotted an antelope servant running from the front gates straight towards her.<p>

"Miss Yu, miss Yu!"

She watched as the antelope stopped next to her to draw breath before he could continue.

"Miss Yu, where are your parents? I have to find them quickly. You should get prepared, too!"

"Why, what's happening?" Mei Yu questioned.

"He is coming to surprise visit." The antelope made a dramatic pause. "The new Lord of Fei Cui."

Mei's eyes widened in surprise: "What, Zang is coming? Oh no, and I have _this_ on", she pointed to her dress.

"Yes… Your parents, miss Yu?"

"Oh, right, I think they're going over some trade contracts in the working room."

The antelope bowed thanks and hurried to inform his masters of the sudden situation.

Mei Yu stared after him until she startled in the realization that she should be going to change something more appropriate on. She wondered the reason for her cousin's sudden visit. Although they had been friends in the past, and admittedly, she had had a crush on him, they haven't really seen in years now. The brief moment at Zang's father's funeral didn't count.

She hurried inside the main hall and proceeded upstairs to her room. It was painted with mostly shades of yellow and green, but her bed had lovely blue cushions. Mei Yu loved to wear blue; it looked good on her feathers. As a green peahen her main color was, surprise, surprise, green. Her wings were shades of greenish turquoise and dark, almost black brown. Her neck was grass green, with iridescent yellows and darker greens mixed in. Her head was half black half turquoise-green, with white markings around eyes and continuing to her beak. Her crest was small, but bright emerald-green, like most of the members of Emerald peafowl clan had.

Mei shuffled through her wardrobe. Zang was coming, and he was the Lord of Fei Cui now. She had to put her best on in the presence of royalty. Although her family had very close relations to the ruling family, her father being little brother of the late lord, they weren't really high in the 'pecking order' anymore due to some bad decisions in the past and even worse luck. Mei picked a complex multi-layered, deep blue dress from the dresser. It was her finest one and she _loved_ it, especially how rich the blues were and how they transitioned from lighter to darker. She couldn't understand those peahens of her clan who wore green. Really, come on, if you _are_ green, you won't wear it, all it does it looks stupid. Still, all those oh-so-high-ranked-and-gorgeous peahens had made it clear to her that she was just lowly nuisance who thought to know something.

_Almost like a peasant._

Yeah, those were the words used of her last time she had been around the daughters of other nobles. No one respected her. And it was kinda like that they didn't have any reason to. She was getting old, she was already over twenty and there was no sign of any suitors. It didn't matter that she was quite beautiful, the status was everything. Status she didn't have. Mei Yu sighed. She really hoped she could show them all one day…

But she was wasting time now, she had to change quickly. The sound of servants hurrying around in the hallways echoed through the door. Perhaps seeing Zang would cheer her up. Unless the politics had already consumed him, that was.

* * *

><p>Fortunately, this didn't seem to be the case. Sure, Zang mostly paid attention to her father, but it was understandable. He was still his own, humorous and likable self, and he did promise to Mei to have a talk with her later.<p>

Being a lord, business went first, and Zang apparently had a lot business. That was judging by the time he and her father had spent in the working room after the dinner, discussing some affair unknown to everyone else. Mei, lacking better things to do, waited patiently in the lounge.

Finally the door opened and Zang and Mei's father entered the room. He had an unreadable expression, but Zang looked like he was relieved and tensed up at the same time.

Mei got up. "Well, uh, you got whatever you discussed solved?"

Her father just nodded, seeming to suffer from loss of words, but Zang said 'yes'. Still, he seemed to be somehow distant. Then he snapped out of it. "It seems to be late." Indeed it was already dark outside, with only full moon glowing with silvery light. "But I promised to have a chat with my cousin, if you don't mind."

Mei's dad still couldn't get his beak open, but he didn't seem to mind anyways.

"Shall we go to the garden? It's kinda hot in here", Zang suggested.

"Oh, that's a good idea", Mei said. She was pleased with the opportunity to talk without her parents overhearing or commenting something stupid.

So the two peafowl walked out into the garden. Although it was dark, it was still warm. And there was full moon casting silvery light over the scene.

They came to a stop near a small pond. Zang observed the beautiful garden for a moment. Then he chuckled nervously; he didn't know how to approach the subject. But he knew that he had to say _something_ or he'd face the risk of freezing up. He felt Mei Yu's look on his back. "It's been a while", Zang said at last.

"Yeah", Mei agreed sadly. "Time flows so quickly."

Zang turned to face her. The moonlight played on her feathers and reflected from her eyes in a good way. No, that's too lame term – it reflected in a great way. She looked pretty. Very pretty. He had to struggle to not look away under the gaze of those stunning jade eyes. _Focus, Zang, focus. It's not that hard_, he had to mentally slap himself.

"It's like we just yesterday played here, on the grass", Mei recalled.

"And now we are required to attend to all sorts of boring meetings, make hard decisions, and even get married", Zang added.

Mei jerked under a sting of annoyance and shame. _Why _he had to bring that up? That was a topic she didn't like to talk about, mainly because she had nothing to talk about.

Zang noticed that Mei didn't feel comfortable about the subject, but this was the only logical way he could reach his goal without serious awkwardness. "I'm lord now, Mei. Everyone looks up to my every movement and judges me according to it. It's tough."

"I wish I could do something for you", Mei said with a look of concern.

She looked so, so… – Zang had to close his eyes for a second to prevent himself blurting it out in an idiotic manner. _Not yet._

Mei, of course, interpreted it in a different way. "I didn't know it is that hard, I mean-"

"No no, it's alright. I know how I'll solve this. I'll show them all that I am not weak ruler."

"So you have decided already? Who's the lucky one, do I know her?" Mei couldn't help but feel a little jealous towards that peahen. Guess her crush hadn't faded that much over time. And Zang _was_ handsome. He had been the prince of her dreams… but now, he wasn't prince anymore, and the dreams had become really unrealistic.

Zang managed to hold back a nervously amused smile. "I'd expect you to."

"It's one of the triplets, isn't it?" She was looking a little depressed now. The triplets were daughters to one of the most high-ranking nobles in the clan. They were younger than Mei, and more beautiful, even though she hated to admit it. Marrying one of them would be the most logical choice for Zang.

"Guess I would get anyone of them now, huh? But no." He should stop circling around already. "You know Mei, I came to a conclusion that looks isn't everything. Or even status."

"Oh?"

"I need someone by my side who I know. Who I can trust. Who also cares for me and not just the title. There's only one peahen who matches that description, with the added bonus that she's very pretty."

As Zang gazed deep in her eyes, Mei got filled with a feeling of utter disbelief. He couldn't mean _that_! He couldn't mean – of course he couldn't mean that. It wouldn't make any sense, it was just her wild imagination and stupid hopes. _Yes, calm down Mei. Always so quick to jump in weird conclusions_.

Or that was what she assured to herself, until Zang took her wing into his, and suddenly she was being stared at by tens and tens of yellow-blue eyespots. For a second the mesmerizing, mystic eyes caught all her attention and she got the feeling that she really was something special to be looked upon by those fascinating, charming observers. Then her eyes registered Zang, who was now kneeled in front of her, holding her wing and – yes, that was the cause of the sudden appearance of those eyes; he was displaying to her. _Oh gods._

There was a determined look in Zang's eyes as he asked the question that Mei thought to never, _ever_ hear.

"Mei Yu, will you marry me?"

Mei couldn't do anything but stare with wide eyes. She was rendered totally speechless. Somewhere at the back of her head a voice told her that she had left her beak hanging wide open. _Oh gods. Breathe Mei, breathe._ A garbled giggle escaped her throat and she covered her mouth with her free wing. Her brain seemed to malfunction under the should-have-been-impossible situation. Everything had been going wrong in her life for a long time, and now there she was with Zang proposing her.

_Zang _was proposing her.

Zang was _proposing _her.

Zang was proposing _her_!

Slowly Mei came in terms with what was really happening at the moment, and she was able to give her response. With eyes glittering with tears of joy and laughter escaping her beak, she said 'yes'.

Zang looked absolutely relieved, like he had been afraid that she would really say no. "You do? That's great! I mean –"

Mei silenced him by placing her finger (okay, primary feather, but never mind) at the tip of his beak. Zang looked at her somewhat abashed, not knowing what to do.

But Mei did.

Ever so slowly, she kissed him.

* * *

><p>All had gone as planned, and Lord Zang and Lady Mei Yu had firmly established their place as the rulers of Fei Cui province. Now, ten months after their marriage their first chick hatched. The little boy was named Hui Huang, and being the crown prince, province-wide celebrations took place.<p>

Not everyone was happy, though.

Certain families of the clan were deeply offended by Zang's decision to marry Mei Yu, and now they were even more disturbed with the arrival of an heir. It considerably lessened their chances to get the position they desired. They had to remake their plans, but no one dared to put them in action. Yet.

The royal family knew nothing of this, and they were living particularly joyful time. Little Hui Huang grew fast, and soon the chick had learned to walk and speak with limited vocabulary (his first word was, no, not 'ma' or 'pa', but 'green' (Well okay, it sounded more like 'gleen', but he was a hatchling after all.)).

When Hui was three, the second prince hatched and the joy only increased.

Little Hui Huang loved his little brother, who was named Jiao. When Jiao grew a little, the siblings become almost inseparable, and their plays around the palace tended to cause much extra work to the servants.

They lived their lives that way, not always happy or without troubles, but content. That was, until everything changed.

It happened when Hui Huang was seven years old.

He was sitting in the corner of the room, next to the door. He didn't want to go to sleep; the events of the day were totally filling his mind at the moment. He had been causing trouble with Jiao today and they had been ordered to bed early. Hui didn't want to sleep, though, and he had been sitting in the corner now for hours, most likely.

Suddenly he heard a faint thud from the hallway. Before he could react in any way, the door opened slowly and quietly. Hui knew that there was a guard stationed behind the door every night, and he knew also that the guard shouldn't have any reason to open the door. This was something else.

Hui held his breath as the intruder walked inside, but stopped soon as it noticed that the bed was empty. The figure was wearing a black cloak, but Hui was still able to tell that it was some kind of feline, from the way it moved. They didn't have any feline servants at the palace, so it had to have come from outside. Hui could only think of one possibility, of which his father had warned him: the cloaked figure was an assassin. Assassin was an evil person sent by some jealous clan member, and it was after the heirs of the royal family. That meant it was after him.

Hui gulped as silently as he could.

The lack of a prince in bed seemed to throw the assassin's plan off. It quickly scanned the room, but didn't think of the possibility that the prince could be behind the door. The feline made a nervous grunt and retreated from the room, closing the door silently.

Hui forced himself to stand up. There was an evil assassin in the palace! He'd have to alert his father.

But what if the assassin was waiting behind the door?

Hui hesitated.

He couldn't stay in the room; the assassin could come back and search a little more carefully this time.

Deciding that it was the best course of action, Hui carefully opened the door as silently as he could. The first thing he saw was some dark form lying on the floor in front of the door.

The guard, he realized. The assassin had done something to his guard. Hui didn't see any blood, but neither did he see any signs of life from the magpie. He felt his legs trembling as he looked the hallway left and right. There was nothing to be seen. The feline had disappeared somewhere.

Good.

Hui broke into run, down the hallway towards his parents' chamber. He was scared, and every shadow looked like it contained a murderous feline ready to jump on him. The image of the still, fallen guard haunted in his mind.

Thinking of guards, why didn't he get the guard that was guarding Jiao's room just behind the corner from his room? But what if that guard had been also -!

A shocking thought made Hui stop and turn around.

Jiao!

Hui ran faster than ever, back towards his room. He got to the junction and looked left. There, in front of the _opened_ door of his brother's room, was a limp, black-and-white feathered form of a royal guard.

Unbearable dread filled Hui, and for a moment he couldn't move. Just when he managed to force himself to move onward, a dark figure appeared from the room. Hui froze in place as the feline glanced at him. Time itself seemed to drag as they stared each other for a brief second.

Then the assassin took a long, vicious looking curved knife from its belt.

Hui backed off and ran. His hart was certainly beating harder than it was healthy. He had no chance. No chance. No chance… He was only a peachick, and the hunter was an adult feline. It'd catch him in mere seconds. He couldn't even shout for help; fear had captured his voice somewhere in his throat.

He passed his room and for a second he considered locking himself in there. But no, that'd be truly the end of him. His eyes searched desperately for a solution. And they found it.

_Balcony._

Hui glanced behind at the same moment as he swung the balcony door open. The assassin was mere ten meters behind him. He won a few precious seconds by slamming the door at the feline's face.

The wing of the palace where the royal family's rooms were located was only three floors high, but the problem was that they were on the third floor, and Hui still couldn't fly. It was a long way down for a small peachick.

That's why he had to go _up_.

Hui jumped on the railing, grabbed the nearest wooden support pillar and begun to climb. He heard the door swung open, but it was already too late for the feline; he got a hold of the edges of the roof tiles and pulled himself up.

"Be a good boy and _come here!_" He heard a female voice snarl after him. Naturally he didn't stop. Instead, he climbed up to the rooftop. The Emerald Palace was a beautiful sight in moonlight, but Hui couldn't enjoy the sight now.

A quick look around told him that there was a tree growing near the building at the end of the roof. He could jump there, climb down and find the guards. Or perhaps he could hide in the tree? It was dark, and he'd blend in there pretty well amidst the leaves.

Loud crack and a bit later few crashes told him that the threat was closing on him again. The assassin was struggling to get to the roof, crushing roof tiles and making them to fall down in the process.

Hui ran along the rooftop towards the tree, his heart hammering in his ears. Just as he reached the edge, the sound of tiles getting knocked loose by something not intended to run on them grew louder quickly. Although the nearest branch strong enough to support him was some distance away, Hui didn't hesitate. With a giant leap he reached the branch and gripped it firmly with his talons. With no time to waste, he jumped down on the branch below, and then to the next one, getting closer to the tree trunk at the same time.

Heavily rustling leaves somewhere above told him that the assassin was also in the tree now.

Hui hoped to get down faster than the feline would. He knew that the tree was growing in the main yard, and there were several guards stationed there. As he had almost reached the ground, he couldn't resist looking back. At that exact moment something hit against him hard, knocking him down the tree.

The impact with ground made air escape his lungs. Hui was dizzy, hurting and feeling a strange pressure on his chest. A couple of blinks to focus his vision revealed him the reason for the pressure: the assassin was pinning him down with her foot.

Hui's eyes widened in terror as the feline raised the curved knife. Somewhere over the distance he could hear the guards shouting. But it was too late.

The feline – a black panther, he could now see – smiled to him. It was not a warm, comforting smile, but a cold and emotionless one.

"This won't hurt", the panther assured with the same smile pasted on her lips.

Just when Hui was about to close his eyes, the assassin, instead of striking with the dagger, decided to grow a third arm.

It was not a pretty thing to look at, and judging from the blood it was rather painful process, too. Right from the middle of her chest bursted out the third arm. In shape it didn't remind the panther's other arms at all. In fact, it resembled Hui's dad's valued lance. It even had a similar emerald embedded in it. Funny.

The panther made gurgling sounds and grabbed her chest, dropping the dagger and falling to her knees. Only then Hui could see his father standing behind the assassin, holding his lance with his train fanned out and looking so fierce that Hui got scared even more than he was already.

Lord Zang kicked the feline to the back so that the blade went partly back inside the animal. The panther gasped and gurgled as Zang leaned towards her, eyes burning with hatred.

"How _DARE_ you hurt my son!"

Zang twisted the blade and the pulled it out with force, resulting in disgusting smacking sound. The assassin collapsed to ground, never to move anymore.

All this was too much for Hui, and he began to cry. Loudly. Zang dropped his weapon and picked up his shaking son.

In his father's embrace, Hui didn't care of rest of the world. He vaguely sensed the presence multiple guards that were gathering to the scene, and he couldn't bring himself to understand the orders his father was giving to them. It was warm and safe, rest didn't matter.

Except for a one pressing corner that was now filling his mind when his life wasn't in danger anymore.

"Dad", he said faintly, sniffing at the same time.

"Yes, Hui?" Zang asked affectionately. After observing his son's shaken frame for a second, he added worriedly: "Are you hurt?"

Hui shook his head. "No, dad… Jiao?"

His father didn't seem to understand for a few seconds, then his eyes widened. Hui clung to him as he hurried inside and then up to the third floor. The footsteps following in their wake told that several magpies were escorting them now.

They reached Jiao's room. The dead guard was still lying in the hallway. Zang came to halt at the doorway. Mei Yu was already there.

She was kneeled next to the bed, her back towards the door. Hearing their arrival, she turned to look at Zang and Hui.

That look shattered their world.

* * *

><p>There was nothing but his opponent. Nothing else. He didn't feel the cold rain, or the muddy ground; they weren't important. Hui Huang had closed his eyes in concentration. He held a scimitar in a ready stance in both of his wings. He felt every scratch and marking in the handles of the weapons, and knew every curve of the pointed steel blades.<p>

He pictured his opponent in his mind; a young antelope standing short distance in front of him, holding a decorated longsword at ready. Hui snorted. Their master had announced the antelope three times in a row as the best student of the year.

That wasn't good enough. Only he could be the best.

Hui imagined the antelope in a dark cloak, and instead of a sword, he pictured him wielding a sharp, curved dagger.

That's how he found strength.

Without a warning Hui opened his eyes and dashed forward. Swinging both blades in a great arc, he attacked the antelope's defense furiously. He came from two directions continuously, making the mammal struggle seriously to block all the attacks. It didn't matter how good his opponent's were; none of them had dared to try master using two weapons at once, like he had. With that he was all but invincible. He had to.

Suddenly the antelope tried to make a counter-attack. Unfortunately for him, the longsword's speed was vastly inferior to Hui's scimitars. Hui blocked the sword between his broad blades and twisted them simultaneously, at the same time kicking the mammal to chest. That made the sword fly from the antelopes grasp. The strike was followed with a heavy swing to face with the scimitar's flat side.

The impact made the antelope groan and stumble backwards, and Hui used the moment to jump on him and make him fall. Hui stood on his chest and held the weapons at ready. The antelope was totally shocked at this sudden fall.

Hui glanced at his master, an old but very skilled Indian tiger, who was watching the match at the edge of the training grounds. The master nodded as a sign that the fight was over. Hui sheathed his blades and turned to walk away, not saying a word. He had just become the champion of the year, but it didn't bring any satisfaction. He had known that'd be the case for a long time.

He was the best sword fighter in the province, and most probably one of the best in the whole China, only at the age of fifteen. He should've been happy. He should've been proud. But he wasn't.

Ever since he had begun training sword fighting under the master tiger seven years ago, he had aimed to be the best. That's why he chose unusual weapon and unusual wielding style. He had to be ready, had to be capable to kill anyone or anything that threatened him or those he cared about. He owed that to…

No, he wouldn't think about that, he had decided it years ago. Why were his thoughts trailing to _that_ event so often?

Hui entered the barracks to change the combat gear off. He removed the leather straps around his wings, and the cape showing his prince status. Just then he heard closing footsteps, which told him that he'd have one of _those_ discussions soon. He hated them.

That's why he wasn't surprised to see his master standing at the doorway, examining him with his gaze. When Hui didn't say anything and just continued to remove his armor, the tiger sighed.

"Hui."

No answer.

"Hui Huang, look at me when I speak to you." The voice wasn't stern, but it carried authority.

Reluctantly Hui lifted his gaze to match the tiger's.

"Hui, you just won the title of the champion. Shouldn't you be rejoicing, telling your parents and so on?"

Now it was Hui's turn to sigh. "Master, there's not any reason for that. Ever since I mastered dual wielding earlier this year, I've been the best. None of the other students are match for me. You know that too, or why else you'd have restricted other than the most skilled ones from sparring with me?"

"Hui-"

"With all respect, master, I bet I could beat you too. I knew I was the best, the victory was no surprise; there is _no reason_ to celebrate." Hui turned to look away, his crest flattening.

After a moment of silence the master sat down on the bench next to the young peacock. Hui still didn't look at him.

"I'm sure you could. But this isn't about that, is it?" Receiving no answer, the tiger continued: "I'm worried of you; you are carrying a great burden. I know you've been through a lot, but you have to understand that your brother's death was _not_ your-"

Hui's crest bolted up in anger as he turned to face his master. "Do NOT talk about my brother, I don't HAVE a brother! Do you understand?" He was shaking in rage for a second before getting up and storming out in the rain, still wearing half of his armor.

Master tiger sighed sadly. The whole situation was so very unfortunate. Hui Huang had been his student since he had moved to Fei Cui province, which was seven years ago. He had learned of the tragedy that had fallen on the royal family. He had seen the guiltiness in little Hui, which drove him into training harder and achieving the impossible. He knew that the prince wanted nothing more than vengeance, but it was never found out who had been behind the attack. Hui had no target for his hatred, and this had eventually leaded him hating a little of everyone. Well, except his parents.

Hui had never opened to anyone about his feelings; instead he had bottled them all inside. It gave him power, true, but if he wouldn't let it go, the darkness within would eventually consume him.

That was what concerned master tiger.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: OK, so the story begins. I have many things to say of it. Firstly, I wrote this prologue in over a month's time, and it's over two times longer than anything I've written before (13 pages in MS word T.T). I could still use days to tweak it, but I don't want to hold it back any longer. So I really wish you think it's alright.**

**I stole the prologue name from the KFP2 soundtrack (Ancient China/Story of Shen), as this is a little simiral background story for my OC Hui Huang, later known as Cike. I apologize the tragicness of this prologue, but it was kinda necessary. You see, that's where the story name comes from :P**

**But yes, this is what I'd call a Shen-fic. Where is he then, you ask? Patience, this is just the prologue, the first 'real' chapter will contain plenty of Shen. He is the antagonist of this story after all. Hui/Cike will be the protagonist. And this is most certainly the only chapter in the fic that contains romance. Just to make things clear.**

**Last note: I'll be drawing some illustrations for each chapter; this prologues' ones will be up in a hour or two. I'll post the links in my profile, or you can hunt down my DA account (also named ToothlessFuture).**

**DISCLAIMER: Dreamworks owns Kung Fu Panda and it's characters. But I own all my OC's and this story.**


	2. Invasion Begins

**~The Darkness Within~**

**-Chapter 01: Invasion Begins-**

It was early morning at Gongmen city. The weather was misty and cloudy, although day's first sunrays were already coloring the sky red.

Red was also the color of the mighty ship's twin sails, with a black symbol sewed in them. The symbol resembled a radiating sun, except for the fact that it was black.

The ship floated out of a narrow canal into the open harbor through smoldering wreckages of some smaller ships. It was followed by tens of smaller ships, similar to the wrecked ones. The common factor with all the ships were that they all carried dozens and dozens of well armed- and armored wolf soldiers, and that they were each armed with a single cannon.

The cannons were made of iron, and they were skillfully crafted to look like fierce animal heads, like crocodiles or panthers. Most intimidating of them, though, was the biggest one aboard the flagship; it was shaped like a dragon. Onboard the flagship was also another notable figure, not any less intimidating than the cannon.

The figure was Lord Shen, the inventor of the cannons.

Lord Shen was an Indian peacock, but not quite normal, as his feathers were all pure white, except the markings on his crest and train, which were blood red, and the eyespots in his train, which were black. He was wearing light grey robes made of the finest silk in the province, with complex ornate patterns embroidered in. He had the kind of a smirk on his beak that indicated he had just accomplished something great.

Shen laughed.

He looked at the miserable, beaten figures in the water that were holding some pieces of debris from the destroyed ships to stay afloat. The center of his attention was one of the figures, a panda.

"Some kung fu masters you are…" he stated, mostly to himself.

He had proved the Soothsayer wrong. The prophecy was rubbish after all. The panda, 'the warrior of black and white,' that was _destined_ to defeat him had failed. Oh, how he had waited for this moment. Over thirty years of planning, and now he was sailing to take what was rightfully his

Shen instructed the wolf in control to take the ship a little closer to the panda. Then he walked to the reel to grab the panda's attention.

Their gazes met for a brief moment; then the warrior looked down.

"See? Your precious kung fu is no match to my cannons", Shen sneered, wicked laughter present in his voice. Seeing the dragon warrior so totally defeated both physically and in spirit only made Shen feel better. He could take one of his knifes and finish the panda now… or he could let him live in shame.

The latter sound better.

"It's your luck, panda", Shen said slowly, "that I have a whole China to conquer. I can't waste my time on you anymore. BUT. If you ever show your thick skull to me again, I'll make sure that it will be the END. Do you understand?"

The panda just stared silently.

"Good." Shen tugged his wings in the sleeves. "Run him over", he added casually to the helmsman.

Shen snickered as the panda's green eyes widened, and he dove to avoid collision with the massive vessel. All the kung fu masters watched helplessly as the fleet departed Gongmen.

Shen turned around to boast his achievement to the Boss wolf, but then he remembered he had killed him just moments before. Oh well. It was just an… unfortunate stain in his otherwise perfect victory. Mourning the dead was meaningless, especially if they were of traitorous sort. Shen himself would only look forward, and there he had a lot to look at.

* * *

><p>Darkness had fallen and the fleet sailed the river to North with no lights. They didn't want to attract any attention, even though it was unlikely that anyone spotting them would make it in time to alert their target of their arrival.<p>

Only trace of light came from the captain's quarters of Lord Shen's flagship. Shen had called his three highest-ranking officers to go through the battle plans. They had gathered around a table which had a huge map of China laid out on it.

One of the officers, a hulking brute of a wolf, named Bao Nu, pointed to a location on the map.

"…This is where the river is taking us. The province of Mi. Their military strength is laughable, and we should be able to secure the whole province in a few days", Bao Nu reported with his always-harsh voice.

"Yes, but then we have choices to make", a smaller and thinner, but equally deadly-looking wolf called Liu Hua, continued. "To the East of Mi, across the vast marshes, lies the province of Fei Cui. It's small, doesn't have an army and it's very rich. But if we go that way, we'll lose a lot of time. Maybe even a week. In that time our momentum is gone, other provinces will be prepared, and we'll have hard time a lot earlier than expected. Too early."

"But at North we'll face an alliance of five provinces", the third officer, Shang Si, said and pointed the locations on the map. "Mi and Fei Cui are also part of the alliance, but I don't count them in because they make no difference."

Liu Hua took over: "The best course of action is to continue to North from Mi, to the Lin province, and strike them down fast and hard. Although they're not even close to being the strongest province in the alliance, their quick defeat will crush the morale of others - allowing us to conquer all five provinces with relative ease."

The officers were now done, and they turned towards Shen, waiting for him to announce his opinion. Shen mused over the options for a moment. This was it. This was his dream. Or rather, the way to his dream. Anyways, he had to be sharp and make no mistakes. He had superior weapons, true, but his army wasn't exactly the biggest around. He had to strike fast, he had to strike hard, and conquer as many provinces as he could before the imperial army would be alerted and mobilized against him. When that time comes, he'd have to be ready. There were no other options. Coming back to the decision he had to make now; it wasn't a hard one. He could really use the wealth of Fei Cui but the risk was too much. The alliance had to be crushed first.

Shen cleared his throat. "This is what we do: after securing Mi, we'll proceed to sail down the river to Lin, and we'll make its downfall an example to the other members of the alliance. Any questions?"

"No, sir!" The three wolves said in unison.

"Excellent. Now go get the men prepared, we should arrive to Mi City at dawn. Oh, and one more thing, since you, Bao Nu, are so sure that Mi falls quickly: I expect the city to be secured at the time I've made my way to the city hall. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" The wolf's strong voice echoed in the cabin.

"Good. Dismissed."

The canines bowed and left the cabin. Shen rolled up the map and stored it into his drawer. From the window he could see the sky getting lighter in color already. His great victory would begin soon, and it would begin with fire.

* * *

><p>The ominous sound of metal clicking against stone echoed in the suddenly abandoned streets of Mi City. If it hadn't been for the terrified, fleeing and screaming citizens or the thundering cannons of the fleet at the harbor, it'd have looked like the white peacock was just having a casual stroll at the city.<p>

But alas, the cannons were pounding everything at sight and the civilians were running for their lives, and lord Shen was a conqueror on the way to claim his reward. The shooting was, of course, only for a show, as Shen could have dealt with the city guards with only a few dozen wolves. But, Shen _loved_ shows when it came to fire and explosions, and thus the cannons continued their pounding.

Shen walked along a beautifully decorated street leading from the docks to the center of the city, where stood the grand city hall. That was where the Mi's ruler was ought to be, and so that was also where Shen was heading.

There was no one at sight, which wasn't surprising at all. His wolves had already spread through the city, eliminating the remaining guards and making sure everyone stays inside. Order had to be established. It was simple, really. First you root out the old order, and then place the new one. The quicker the change is, the better the result. The citizens would need some sort of motivation to follow his rules, but Shen had that already solved. He would do it the old-fashioned way.

Shen arrived at the central plaza and got first sights of the city hall. It was large, three-storey building with giant, golden dragon heads decorating the corners of the roof and one more painted at the huge double doors. He snorted. Such a mighty display of power, and still, judging by everything he knew of governor Chang he was a coward. A coward that was now hiding in his hole, probably surrounded with his most trusted guards.

That was what Shen expected of Chang and that was also what his wolves had already confirmed. But as he had ordered, no one was allowed to break in expect Shen himself. After all, what was the point in claiming your happiness, if you didn't have any _fun_?

* * *

><p>Governor Chang was just a little, old goose, and the recent, much unexpected and very horrible turn of events had made the bird get grey feathers. Or would've had, if he hadn't been totally grey in color already.<p>

Being the, eh, not so brave person he was, he had taken the best guards with him and holed in the city hall as soon as he had seen the armada arriving at the harbor and somehow making the city burst in flames.

The hostiles had arrived from the direction of Gongmen, but as far as he knew, it was ruled by a council of peaceful kung fu masters, and he had never seen the symbol that was on the biggest ship's sails before. So Chang didn't know who he was dealing with, but he certainly knew what he was dealing with; the sound of howling wolves was unmistakable. There appeared to be about thousand of them, which was a thousand too many for his city guards.

Chang watched nervously as his antelope guards carried furniture to block the doors of the governor's office. It wouldn't hold for long, but Chang was panicking and didn't know what else to do. Mi was a peaceful province that didn't have any armed forces to repel the invaders. Chang trusted that their northern allies would come to help if something would threaten the province.

But this was far too quick; there had been no any kind of warning at all.

"Sir", the guardsmen captain, a strongly built antelope with long horns and vicious-looking halberd, said, "we have done everything possible to fortify this room, but that won't hold for long."

Chang gulped nervously. He glanced at the windows, of which shutters were closed and barred. They were on the top floor so it wasn't likely that anyone would be coming through there, but it was still better to be safe than sorry.

Just when he was about to say something reassuring to his men, something knocked against the door.

"What was that?" Chang yelped in a squeaky voice.

All the guards gathered closer to the door, listening to the sounds coming from outside, alarmed.

There was nothing to be heard.

Chang resisted the urge to bite his wingtips out of nervousness. He would've been sweating hard had that been physically possible. Seconds went on soundlessly. Chang found himself relaxing very slightly.

"Guess it was nothing, eh, all the nervousness makes your imagination run wild!"

Just as he finished the sentence something crashed against the window shutters. There was a flash of steel and then the shutters flew open. There was a white figure of some kind of bird standing on the frame, with sunlight shining from behind in a way it made a golden hue around the figure. But what really got Chang's attention were the knives that the bird was holding in its wings.

"Get him!" Chang screamed frantically as he dove for cover under his desk. He heard the guards charging towards the intruder, and then he heard some thuds and clanks of bodies collapsing and weapons falling.

He heard the angry grunt of the guardsmen captain and the noise of the following melee fight. It ended soon and abruptly, and Chang didn't dear to turn around to look at the outcome. Then he heard a voice addressing him that sent chills down his spine.

"Good morning, governor Chang. I know my visit came a little unexpected, but it still isn't polite to hide under the table."

A clinking sound of footsteps came closer to the desk and Chang found his heart beating so much faster.

"It would be very unfortunate if I had to drag you out from there, so could you _please_ face me?" The voice demanded, still being very polite and very chilling.

Chang decided that it would best for his health to obey the voice, so he slowly backed away from under the table and stood up. Then, trying to hide the trembling of his wings, he turned to face the intruder. What he saw was a tall, white peacock in a light gray colored robes and a bladed staff in his wings. The peacock's eyes were crimson red as were the markings in his crest and train feathers. Behind him Chang saw the bodies of the guards lying on the floor, with long, silvery knife in each guard's throat.

"What is it; don't you remember me, Chang?" The peacock questioned.

Perhaps it was due to the very stressing situation, but Chang didn't remember ever seeing this white peacock. Only white peafowl he had ever seen was the chick of late lord and lady of Gongmen – and from what he knew the prince had been banished ages ago. Swearing revenge… it couldn't be?

"Shen?" He asked in a weak voice.

"Actually, it's lord now", the peacock answered casually, while moving his wingtip along the smoothly curved edge of his blade. This didn't help Chang to calm down at all. "You see, I have this little problem, and I need your help in solving it, Chang", Shen stated and took a step closer to the goose.

"H-how can I h-h-help?" Chang stuttered.

"I need you to assure that you understand a few facts first", Shen announced to the frightened waterfowl. "Just to get the pleasantries out of the way."

"Anyways, you can trust me when I say that my wolves had secured the whole city by now. In other words, Mi City is under _my_ control." Shen's eyes glinted in a way that could be described as mad. "Unless anyone, namely you, objects, I am the rightful ruler of this province from now on."

Shen waited for response.

"I-I can't let –" The goose tried nervously.

Shen's eyes widened as his face turned into a cold warning, daring Chang to say one more word.

"I m-mean, of-of course you a-are", Chang sighed, apparently disappointed to himself.

Slowly Shen's expression faded back into the neutral but excited one he had had. "From this point on, Mi ceases to exist as a province, and the territory is merged to form a great province of Gongmen!" The mad glint was now visible again, until suddenly Shen begun to frown. "Unfortunately, I won't be able to get things rolling here in the way I like", the white peacock paced in circle now. "You see, I _will _be the emperor of whole China, and I don't have time to manage small pitiful places like this. I need someone to manage it for me. Someone who knows these people and can make them adjust to my will without any kind of… inconvenient distractions."

Shen stopped and turned to face the now ex-governor again. Chang gulped. He didn't like the gaze of those crimson red eyes at all. Something insane and endlessly ambitious was living behind them. Lord Shen was definitely out of his mind, but in a way that made him only much more dangerous. Unpredictable.

"I have one question to you Chang, and think carefully before you answer." The peacock was handling the shiny blade of his lance again. "The question is; are you the person I'm looking for?"

Chang had seen that coming for a short moment now. He knew what lord Shen asked from him: to become a puppet leader, just a mask for the peacock's will, a mindless doll leading his people to a certain doom, for that was what would happen under the maniac's rule. How could Chang ever do that to his people? He wanted to say no, he really did… but it was too clear what would happen should he do that.

"I… I a-am." Now the stuttering didn't come from fear but from self-disapproval.

"Good", Shen _almost _smiled. "I suggest that you'll gather the citizens to calm them down and tell them that some of my wolves will stay here to ensure the safety of this province. You tell them to continue their daily routines in peace. My officer will make sure that the city's income is directed to the war effort, and that you do according to any _requests_ I might have."

"Do all this, no delays, no mistakes, nor excuses, and it's possible that you'll never have to face me again. Fail to meet the terms…" Shen didn't have to finish the sentence; the way which he looked at Chang was enough. "Am. I. Clear?"

"Y-y-yes, a-absolutely", the goose nodded his head furiously.

"Excellent." Shen walked back to the window from which he had broken in, collecting his knives along the way. Shen gave a disapproving glance around the room. "By the way, you might want to get somebody to clean around here, it's quite messy", the peacock stated and jumped out of the window, leaving one internally conflicted and defeated goose behind.

* * *

><p>As soon as Shen's metal covered feet touched the paved ground of the plaza, his three generals were at his side. They saluted him and then Bao Nu proceeded to give his report:<p>

"Sir, all the guards have been eliminated. The city is secured. We have three wounded, no casualties. The fires ignited by cannon fire are under control", the brutish wolf barked.

"I didn't expect anything less from you", Shen stated simply. He turned to the smaller wolf: "Shang Si."

"Sir?"

"I want you to stay here with a company of wolves to make sure that governor Chang stays in line and preventing other kinds of uprisings. Two more companies will be assigned to securing and later patrolling the countryside; they are under your command too."

Shang didn't seem to be pleased with this order, but he didn't dear to voice it. "As you wish, Sir." Shang bowed and left to gather the companies.

Shen used a moment to look around. This all was now his, although he wouldn't be staying here for much longer. _Today the province of Mi, tomorrow all of China!_ _Or, at least, Lin province._ This reminded him of the fact that they would, most likely, experience some casualties there. Lin had a battalion-level unit of boars after all. He would need some intelligence information before moving in with the fleet.

"Liu Hua, assign a scouting party of ten of your swiftest wolves and send them to Lin within an hour. I need to know the exact strength and placement of the enemy troops, and also if they are expecting us or not. Tell them to report back to the fleet ten clicks South of Lin at sunset tomorrow," the peacock lord commanded.

The sly wolf saluted and hurried to fill the order.

Shen eyed the remaining general. The towering wolf didn't flinch under his measuring gaze. Shen approved that.

"The battle of Lin will decide if you or Liu Hua will be the next alpha", Shen talked directly to Bao Nu. The canine's gaze became more intense and focused. "I must admit that I have a slight favor towards you. But if Liu Hua proves to be more capable, I have no hesitation in promoting him instead. Don't disappoint me."

Bao grunted.

"Now it's time to prepare for leaving this place. Call in the wolves", Shen ordered.

The general released a long, loud howl.

* * *

><p>The only light in Shen's quarters came from an almost burnt-out candle standing on his desk next to an outstretched map of Lin province. Shen himself was observing the defensive positions marked on the map according to the scouts' information.<p>

The Lin's capital was built around the river they were sailing, so the fleet had direct access to the center of the city. The city's founders were obviously been more concerned of getting good trading routes than about the security of their people. Shen didn't care; it was making his 'job' easier. Even though the city had walls and was well equipped to hold against invaders; they could even block the river with huge iron-rail gates. Still, they wouldn't be able to stop him. Nor could they really even slow him down. His cannons would crush them like an iron boot squashes bugs.

At the dawn, sun would rise to reveal that Lin is no more… and Shen would finally begin to get the respect he deserved.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: The first 'proper' chapter... kinda like an introduction to the story's setting, which deviates from the end of the movie as you surely noticed. At first this chapter was supposed to cover also the invasion of Lin, but I thought there'd be too many events in one chapter. And there's already enough scene/pow changes in this chapter.**

**In the case you wonder if this has anything to do with the prologue, worry not. It will all connect in a few chapters.**

**Also, reviews would be highly appreciated. Thanks! ^^**


	3. War!

**~The Darkness Within~**

**-Chapter 02: War!-**

An alarm horn sounded somewhere over distance, soon joined by many other similar noises. The tower guards had finally spotted the incoming fleet.

_Five…_

_Four…_

_Three…_ Shen counted in his mind.

_Two…_

_One..!_

"FIRE!" The peacock cried on top of his voice.

Tens of simultaneous 'BOOMs' that followed were almost deafening. The fires from the mouths of the iron animals lighted the night for a brief moment.

Metal creaked and wooden, stone and metal shrapnel exploded in every direction as the cannonballs brought down the huge gates that were about to block the river. The guards closest to the now ex-gate cried as the wall beneath them collapsed in the river.

Chaos broke out in the Lin city soon after. The defenders tried to set up a defense, but the unexpected loss of the river-gates seemed to confuse them greatly. Some boar archers were manning the walls, but Shen's wolf counterparts shot them down almost immediately.

The citizens were waking up to the noise and as they realized what was going on, they begun to flee their houses, clogging the streets.

The fleet advanced inside the city walls. Shen waved his wing to Liu Hua as a sign to proceed with the plan. There was a brief clicking sound from turning cannons, and then light defied darkness momentarily again. And again. And again.

The buildings closest to the river collapsed, exploded, or burst in flames; some even did the all three. Debris blocked roads and some unfortunate animals got crushed under them. The frantic orders of the boar officers were now joined with panicking civilians screaming. Though, most of that cacophony was drowned under the sound of thundering cannons.

Phase one of the attack was going like planned. The fleet had breached into the city with little resistance. Causing havoc among the civilians was making it considerably harder for the defenders to get their lines organized.

However, Shen knew it wouldn't remain this easy for long, unless they'd do something about it. Preventing the boars to dig in the city would make the conflict considerably shorter.

But Shen wasn't worried; they were prepared to do just that. From his mark Bao Nu took several smaller vessels and steered towards the western shore. The Lin City was built around the river, but not equally; the western side was much larger. Basically all that lied in the eastern side were nobles' residences. That was where Shen was going himself.

This was the plan: Bao Nu would make a beaching with the main army to the western side, and they'd proceed towards the garrison. Wolf archers would take positions at the civilian buildings and with that fire support the foot soldiers would slaughter the recently woken up boars.

Liu Hua would stay at the river, and use the cannons to prevent the enemy from circling behind the main force, and to take down any buildings occupied by enemy archers.

Shen, however, didn't care for that kind of casual fighting himself. He was landing to the eastern side with the thirty wolves aboard his flagship, and together they'd assault Lord Ce Yin's quarters. Ce Yin was the ruler of Lin, and he was also the same species as Shen: a blue Indian peafowl (although Shen was anything but normally colored).

As the ship got closer to the river bank, Shen found his talons itching to close around Ce Yin's neck. He had never directly met him, but he had been in contact with the blue peacock enough to want him dead. During his exile, Shen had been in many places. He had set up his base of operations at the root of Himalayas, and from there he had gathered all that he needed for his return to Gongmen. Ce Yin had not only refused to trade with him, but also denied him and his wolves the access to the Lin province, causing all sorts of troubles for Shen and the pack. Now was payback time.

Shen leaped off the deck and glided to the shore. There were no living boars at sight, only few corpses that had arrows sticking out, and one that had been crushed under a partially collapsed house that was made of stone.

A white peacock was a little too visible target at night, and thus Shen was wearing dark, rough robes over his usual gray silk attire. That wasn't enough to cover everything, though, so Shen took cover of the nearest building that was still standing without the danger of a sudden collapse.

Shen observed his surroundings while waiting for his wolves getting to the shore too. The sounds of the battle echoed from the other side of the river, and the cannons aboard his fleet kept pounding the burning city. Bright flames reached towards the sky and made the city glow in eerie orange, dancing light.

It was beautiful.

The main forces of both sides were at the Western side of the Lin City, and Shen didn't expect to meet more than platoon or two of boars here. But that was fine; the real fights wouldn't begin until the next province…

Tens of grey-furred wolves came running from the ship towards cover. When they reached the building at which Shen was waiting, one of them reported to him:

"Ready for your orders, sir!"

"Listen carefully, captain", Shen said, eyes narrowing in concentration. "From that ruined bridge", he pointed forward along the river bank, towards a large bridge made of stone. It had been blasted into pieces by the fleet. "…Continues the main street uphill to the mansion of Lord Ce Yin."

Shen paused, thinking the best course of action. "He might be old, but he is a warrior at heart. I can't imagine him sitting at his home while the city is under siege. He probably gathers his guards and tries to rally them to the other side of the river."

"We'll advance some distance towards the mansion and then set up an ambush. Put one scout at lead. Archers at sides, scanning the roofs for enemy ambush. Understood?"

The wolf captain nodded. "Yes, sir." He quickly briefed his lord's orders to the other soldiers, and then they moved on.

Like ordered, one scout took the lead, advancing about fifty meters ahead the main group. Shen was in the middle of the group with archers at his sides and shield-wielding warriors surrounding him, ready to protect him from ranged attacks.

Soon the scout reached the main street, and gestured the others to stop. They hid into the shadows of the nearest building, waiting for an all clear –sign from the scout.

The wolf in question glanced to the street around the corner, and then quickly crossed it, hiding himself behind a corner as soon as he reached the other side. He looked along the street again, this time more carefully. Then he signaled a series of hand gestures to the main group.

"Several civilians fleeing from their homes towards the Eastern gates. No military threats at sight", the captain translated to Shen, unnecessarily. Shen had learned the code ages ago during his exile.

"Good enough. Advance", the peacock commanded.

The captain gestured the scout to move forward, and with that the group was on the move again. The scout disappeared behind the corner as he continued to advance along the main street of Lin City. Just as the main group was about to reach the street too, one of the wolves at back yelled:

"Enemy incoming from behind!"

Sure enough, a group of about ten boars were charging towards Shen's party. They had apparently been looking for a way to get across the river and then spotted the invaders.

All the boars were wearing heavy chain armor and helmet that covered most of their face. They were all wielding rather big, double-bladed battleaxes. Now that they saw they had been noticed, they released furious battle cries and stormed forward.

They were a little too close for comfort.

Shen's archers had been each holding an arrow at ready, and now they quickly turned around and fired. Twelve arrows were released towards the boars, and consequently two of the swine dropped. The rest were too close for another volley now, though, and the canines drew their swords and clashed against the boars.

Shen merely watched with amused smile as his troops defeated their enemies one by one. Soon there were no boars standing. Only one wolf was injured; he was lying at ground and holding his leg, from which blood was seeping out.

"We need medic here!" One of the non-injured wolves yelled, and immediately a wolf with lighter armor than the others crouched next to the bleeding one.

"Looks bad", the medic said to the captain after a brief examination. "He won't be able to come with us."

"Hmh, what should we do, sir?" The captain turned to Shen.

Shen thought it for a second. "The medic may stay with him, we'll do without. Now, back to positions!"

Quickly the wolves reordered their ranks and then they were on move again. The medic dragged the injured wolf in the nearest building and so they disappeared from the view.

Now the group reached the main street, and they looked along the road to spot the scout. Sure enough, he was now at least a hundred meters ahead them, having taken a position behind a large sign that was advertising the shop that it was placed in front of. There were some civilians visible even further uphill, soon disappearing from sight.

As the scout saw that the rest were on his tail again, he left his spot and advanced further. Shen's group followed him along the sides of the street, seeking partial protection from the buildings lining the street.

Suddenly the scout gestured for them to scatter and then dashed into the nearest building.

"Archers, take positions at roofs, rest follow me!" Shen commanded hastily and entered the nearest building, which revealed to be a clothing shop of some kind. Shen made his way to the second floor and then to the roof, with the wolf soldiers tailing him.

Shen took a look at what the scout had seen. He saw a large group of boars running down the street, and along then, something else.

"Captain", Shen called.

Immediately the wolf appeared to his side.

"Take your troops down to the alley and wait for my mark."

The canine nodded and hurried to fulfill the order. There was no time for formalities on the battlefield.

There were six wolf archers on Shen's side of the street, and six on the opposite. They spread out on the adjacent roofs so they were now manning six roofs in total, with two archers on each.

Although it was dark, it was now clear that there was a tall bird along the platoon of boars. Shen tensed up in anticipation. The enemy was getting closer, and Shen lifted his right wing up so all the archers could see it.

When the first boars were at Shen's level, he brought his wing down. Simultaneously a dozen arrows were launched, followed by screams of pain from the hit animals. The boars tried to seek cover from the nearest buildings, but now Shen's foot soldiers rushed out from the alley they had been hiding in, and pushed the boars back in the open.

The boars were badly disoriented by the sudden ambush, and their ranks didn't hold for long. The wolf soldiers separated them into small groups and then finished them off. And all the time the archers were raining down the pain on them.

As the enemy numbers were getting smaller quickly, the canines were about to challenge the blue peacock lord among the boars. It was time for action. Shen leaped down from the roof with a cry, and landed gracefully between Ce Yin and two wolf soldiers that were charging towards him. Shen fanned his train immediately and raised his head high.

Ce Yin took a step back and eyed his opponent with a stern look. Now Shen noticed that the lord was accompanied by a falcon of some kind, but it was hard to tell which due to the darkness.

"You", the elder peacock stated. His form stiffened.

"Kuai, you must alert Shan", Ce Yin spoke from the side of his beak. "Now!"

In a blink of an eye the hawk took off.

Almost as quickly a silvery knife found its way into Shen's wing, and from there, after the bird of prey. There was no sound following the throw, and nothing came down. Neither the knife nor the hawk.

Shen grunted. He must have hit it, but apparently not well enough.

"So you're the criminal who sought to trespass my lands," Lord Ce Yin stated, turning Shen's attention back to himself.

"And you are the high and mighty lord who took it his business to make my life considerably harder", Shen shot back.

All the boars had been killed for good by now, and the wolves were either gathering around the peafowl or tending to their wounds.

The blue peacock glared at Shen. "I did what was right. Now I see that I should've used more time to convince Lord Shan to do the same. I never understood what he saw in you."

"Oh yes, the snake… perhaps he didn't want to condemn an entire pack of wolves to die in starvation like you did?" Shen questioned, accusingly.

"Are you saying that I am a murderer?" The peacock's train flared threateningly.

"Yes," Shen chuckled, "and I'm also saying that you're _pathetic_."

"You're going to regret that!" Ce Yin yelled, drew his elegant thin-bladed sword and charged towards the white peacock.

Shen didn't bother to draw his weapon, he simply dodged the first strike, grabbed Ce Yin's wing and used his momentum to throw him on the ground. Before he got a chance to get up, Shen jumped on him with talons first and tail fanned out.

Ce Yin's sword got knocked somewhere as he tried futilely to prevent Shen from reaching his neck. It wasn't too hard for the white bird to overpower the old peacock. Shen got a firm grip of Yin's neck, and he squeezed a little to end his resistance.

"See? I don't know about you, but I'd call that as pathetic", Shen laughed.

"No. You are a mere thug, doing nothing but stealing and killing. You have dishonored your title and your parents' name. And _that_, my friend, is pathetic."

Shen's eyes narrowed as he pulled Ce Yin's face closer to his.

"You don't seem to understand. My parents wronged me, and now they're dead." Shen paused and tightened his grip, making the old peacock gag for air. "You wronged me too… and now I shall claim your life."

Ce Yin's face was getting even deeper shade of blue from the lack of air. Shen looked thoughtful as Yin tried desperately to breathe. "Such a beautiful night to die", he stated and squished with a crushing force. He felt a snap and the figure beneath him went limp.

"You should be happy", Shen whispered to the body and turned to walk away.

* * *

><p>It was dawn already, and Kuai only now saw the fortress on top of the mountain-like cliff at the horizon. He was usually faster, but now this was the best he could do. The knife that the white peacock had thrown was stabbed into his side just below the left wing. Kuai was using all his willpower to not to give up to the pain and fall into darkness.<p>

His lord trusted in him, and there were too important things at stake to care about some pain. He could rest in grave. And to be realistic, that was where he would most certainly end really soon.

Another wave of pain surged through his body, and he had to close his eyes to remain focused.

_You can do it. You can do it. Youcandoit! Just one more wing beat, one message to deliver. Then you can rest quite literally forever_, Kuai tried to maintain his mental focus.

He opened his eyes and begun to descend slowly as the castle a top of the cliff grew larger. The place was called as Soulless Mountains as nothing really grew there, but the official name was Chao Du She. _Viper's Nest._

Chao Du She was undoubtedly the leading state in the Alliance of Seven Provinces. It wasn't the largest by land or population, nor was it the richest. But it held most authority.

That was mostly due to what Lord Shan had achieved. An ex-general and master tactician of the Imperial Army, Lord Shan had beaten an invading Mongol army five times larger than the Chinese army was, many years ago. After retiring from military career, he had been elected to rule Chao Du She. When the Alliance was formed, there had been no debate about which province would take the lead.

Now Lord Shan would have to save them all.

Kuai located a suitable balcony to land at, and begun to flap his wings to slow down. Only problem was that his left wing refused to function correctly. He cursed in his tired mind, and did his best to slow down by using just one wing.

It didn't work well, and the landing was quite rough. Before Kuai was able to recover, two viper guards rushed at him, pointing him with sword-like appendages attached to their tails.

"Who are you?" The first guard questioned.

"State your business", the second guard demanded.

Kuai struggled to get back on his feet, and when he did that his vision became dotted with black dots. There was a puddle of blood under him. _Oh crap_, Kuai thought. His mind was getting drowsy, and the knife stung like hell. But removing it would only make him die so much faster, not to say he had much time left anyways.

"Please, I'm messenger from Lin…" Kuai took several quick breaths. "I must meet Lord Shan." He pressed the wound with his right wing, wincing in pain. He tried blinking his eyes several times, but the dots clogging his vision didn't disappear.

"I don't have much time… please…"

The guards didn't hesitate. They opened the door and led Kuai inside to a magnificently decorated room.

"Follow me", the other guard instructed.

Kuai took a few steps after the snake, but then he fell. He shook his head a few times and tried to get up, only to realize he didn't have any strength left. The other guard seemed to understand this too.

"Go get Lord Shan. Hurry!" He told the other guard.

The snake slithered quickly into the hallway and disappeared from sight. It happened that everything else was also disappearing from Kuai's sight. His vision was drained of color and the black dots were growing larger. Darkness awaited him.

Kuai closed his eyes and focused in breathing. The viper that was left in the room tried to find out if he could help somehow, but Kuai didn't respond. He just had to stay awake for one more breath. And after that, one more. Again, one more breath. Only one more, still. _Not that hard, now is it, Kuai? One more..._

Finally noise filled the room, and Kuai recognized a voice calling his name. "My lord", he responded in a weak voice, without opening his eyes.

"Speak", the voice said, not commanding or demanding in any way.

"I bring message… from Lord Ce Yin." One more breath. "Lin… has fallen. You must… save us… from the white devil." Pause. "He has weapons… unlike anything else… I've seen."

No more. It was done.

* * *

><p>Lord Shan stared at the cooling body, his expression hardening slowly. The room was now bustling with servants and guards, all of them pretty confused and not knowing what they should do. They just looked at the king cobra, not wanting to disturb his thoughts.<p>

Finally the viper guard that had stayed in the room with the hawk opened his mouth. "Excuse me, my lord, but may I ask what shall we do?"

The cobra's pupils came back to focus, and he tasted the air with his serpent tongue. It took a few more moments before Lord Shan responded. Even then, the only thing that betrayed his overwrought state of mind were excess usage of 's' in his speech.

"Alert my generalsss and tell them to mobilissse the army. Also, find my swiftessst messengerssh and tell them to call in the fellow rulersss of the Alliance. We are going to war."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Seems like I can maintain this pace and chapter lenght. :) Though I'll try be a little faster with the updates, I know I can do it.**

**Anyways, a remarkable character is introduced here: the king cobra, Lord Shan. His name differs from Shen with only one letter I know... but I wanted his name to mean flash or lightning, and the word for that happened to be Shan.**

**Also, I'm almost 100% sure that the next chapter will feature the moment I've been waiting to write: when Shen meets Hui.**

**One last thing: statistically, this story fares worse than any of my other stories, even though I've put more work on this than any of the others. Is it that people in the KFP fandom are not interested in stories not containing pairings or what? I'm honestly confused. Anyways, thanks for those who already revieved, and I'd wish to get just a little more of them. Thanks. ;) **

**TF out.**


	4. The Deal

**~The Darkness Within~**

**-Chapter 03: The Deal-**

Shen walked on moist grass that grew on the fields just outside Lin City walls. The sun was steadily rising and the battle had ended hours ago.

After Lord Ce Yin's death, Shen had headed to the Western side of the city only to find out that Bao Nu had already defeated the boar platoon. Thirty boars had surrendered, the rest were all killed. Shen himself had lost some twenty wolves in the conflict.

Looking around, Shen saw silent, scared civilians pitching tents for themselves. These fields were now being used as a 'refugee' camp. All the civilians that hadn't fled into the forests surrounding the city were gathered here. That way they were easier to handle, and besides the city wasn't exactly in ideal condition to live in right now.

He had just had a 'discussion' with the captured boars, and they had kindly accepted his request to support his war effort. Shen had only had to pull the right strings.

Now he was going to meet Liu Hua and Bao Nu, to talk about a few matters. The first thing was the probable possibility that the hawk had delivered a warning to Lord Shan. In which case Chao Du She would most likely march to meet Shen's army at a battlefield. Only a fool would stay sitting in a fortress when the enemy has weapons capable of grinding it to dust. Lord Shan was anything but a fool.

Shen didn't have good feeling of facing Shan. The former general had this reputation of a master strategist surrounding him; but that didn't bother Shen. What bothered him was how Shan acted on intuition and adapted very well to his enemies' moves, unlike Shen himself who was cold and calculating and stuck to a pre-formed plan. If there was a hole in his plans, Shan would find it and abuse it. That was what Shen feared, not the cobra itself. Though, he did hate snakes in general.

Way back to Shen's exile days, Shan had saved his wolf pack by trading with them when everyone else had refused. This was what Ce Yin had referred to. But it hadn't been an act out of goodwill; the cobra had had his own agenda in it, which had been acquiring the weapon Shen had been developing. Shen had actually given his prototype cannon to the king cobra, but his mixture of gunpowder had been so poor at the time that it hadn't been of much use to the snake. Shen wasn't sorry at all.

Before he noticed, he had arrived to the command tent. He tucked his wings into his sleeves before entering the tent. Inside he saw the two wolf generals already waiting for him. Good. He would start with the second matter he had to discuss. The canines saluted him, and he cleared his throat.

"The boars have joined my army. That repays the losses we experienced today. Thanks to that, I hereby promote you, Bao Nu, as the alpha of the wolf pack. From now on you will only answer to me for your actions, and no one else."

Shen kept a pause, observing the two wolves. Clear disappointment shone from Liu Hua's face, whereas a grin was forming to the corners of Bao Nu's mouth.

"I'm honored, my lord", the brute wolf bowed. "I shall not disappoint you."

"That would be good. I'd hate to repeat what happened at Gongmen's canals," Shen noted.

"I'll never let you down, my lord," Bao Nu swore.

"Good. With that out of the way, we have some war discussion to do. I have all the reasons to believe that Chao Du She, and with that the rest of the Alliance, has been warned of this little invasion. I'd like to hear your suggestions for tuning the plan."

Liu Hua seemed to be still mulling over Shen's decision, but still reluctantly opened his mouth: "I say we should keep going as planned. The idea was to break their moral; and then easily beat them. Perhaps even make them surrender. While the gorillas prepare the cannons to be carried on land, we could send a messenger to the viper's nest and demand them to surrender. The more confident we seem to be in our victory, the more insecure they will be."

"I agree", Bao Nu joined. "I don't like the snake. The less contact we have with him, the better."

"So be it", Shen said. "Send a messenger to Chao Du She to demand their surrender. Also, select two companies to stay here to keep order. Everyone else must prepare for a march; this is as far as the river takes us. We will leave tomorrow morning. Dismissed."

The wolves bowed and left to fulfill their duties.

* * *

><p>"<em>What!<em>" Shan asked, his voice chilly as icy lake.

The wolf repeated his message: "Lord Shen demands Chao Du She and the whole Alliance to surrender. Fighting him will only cause destruction that can be avoided."

Calling the atmosphere in the room as tense would be big underestimate. Lord Shan looked at his fellow rulers of the Alliance, who were sitting along the crescent-shaped table. The wolf messenger was standing in the middle.

There were seven seats at the table, but three of them remained empty. Mi and Lin had fallen, and Fei Cui was blocked off. Shan was sitting in the center position, left to him was sitting a large ox, and at his right side were a goat and a fox. All of them turned to look at Shan for a moment, and then the noise broke out.

"If Shen truly has a force big enough for us to be just an inconvenience, then we should surrender. We have to think the people first, Shan!" The ox bellowed.

"Yes, the reports say that Shen has the dragons on his side, we won't stand a chance!" The goat panicked.

"Even you can't save us from this Shan; you saw what happened to Lin. In just one night!" The fox declared.

"Perhaps we should evacuate to the mountains."

"We are doomed!"

"I won't risk my people for a desperate war attempt!"

"There's nothing we can do!"

"Enough!" Lord Shan raised his voice and slammed the table with the flat side of the weapon on his tail tip.

He looked each of the leaders in the eyes before he spoke again. "Calm down! Can't you sssee what Shen is doing to you - !" The cobra turned his gaze to the wolf messenger, who flinched under the snake's stare. "You. Out!"

The canine didn't have to be told twice, and he quickly slipped out of the door.

Shan sighed and fell against the back of his seat. "The white peacock's weapon is not unstoppable. I know what it is, and how it works. I know how to destroy them. If you just-"

"How you know all this? Xi, the ox, interrupted.

"Because back when he was only an outcast, I traded with Shen and his wolf pack. I exchanged food and iron ore for the weapon he was developing."

"What? So you have this same weapon, why have you never told about it to us!" Xi was getting enraged.

Shan smiled bitterly. "There was nothing to tell about. The weapon didn't quite work at that time, and later Shen moved southwards, out of my reach. But what I have is the idea of how the weapon works, and how to fight against an army using them."

He raised his head a little higher and let his gaze to sweep the 'audience' again. "I'm sure Shen couldn't have assembled an army large enough to totally overpower us, which means he will be trusting in his weapons. What he is doing now is merely playing a trick; he wants you to fear him, to panic, so he can easily walk over you!" Shan drew a breath. "But if we stick together, if you trust in me, we can make Shen pay for what he has done to our allies! We can make sure that he won't threaten _anyone ever again!_ So, what do you say, will you crumble in fear, or will you go to war?"

The ox hit his chest with his fist: "My army is yours, lord Shan."

"The province of Dao will join you", the goat assured.

"I'm in", the fox finished.

"That's better", Shan smiled. "Call in the messenger", he added to the viper guards positioned at both sides of the door.

"Shall we send his head back to Shen?" Xi asked.

"No! We are not barbarians, Xi", Shan refused strictly. "We will tell Shen that the Alliance of Seven will not bend before him, and that if he desires our lands, he must come to get them!"

* * *

><p>"Unfortunate, but goes as expected", Shen stated.<p>

The messenger had just delivered the response from Lord Shan. Their refusal to surrender wasn't any surprise, but that haven't even been Shen's goal in the first place. He knew he had achieved his goal when the messenger had described the ruler's reactions to his demand. They were just as afraid and unsure as he had hoped.

One more victory would settle this. One more victory and Shan couldn't hold things from falling apart any longer. And with the cannons by his side, Shen was sure that the next victory would be the next battle. Which, by the way, would most likely be one that won't involve laying siege to any cities.

His general and right wing wolf had laid out the familiar map of China on the table in the middle of the command tent, and they were moving figures representing military units on the map.

"…if Shan is going to march against us, this is most likely where he'll try to position his army", Liu Hua explained, pointing to a huge field that ended in a high cliff near the border of Lin and Chao Du She. "There he can position his archers on the cliffs, perfectly covering the soldiers down on the field. The cliffs are surrounded from other sides by dense forest, which makes it impossible to attack the cliffs via the forest by whole army. Smaller groups will be easily repelled."

"Sounds plausible", Bao Nu grunted. "If we don't reach the cliffs first, what can we do?"

Shen laughed. "That is indeed great positioning. But Shan doesn't know what the cannons are capable of. So, we will set up cannons here, here and here", Shen moved figures of small cannons to the places he meant on the map. "With the cannons pounding the cliffs, the main force can plunge forward and push the enemy against the rocks. No retreat, no chances. Checkmate." Shen smiled wickedly, eyes wide with excitement.

* * *

><p>It was evening; the setting sun was coloring everything with orange hue. Shen stood on a small hill which gave a perfect view to the soon would-be battlefield. Just as Liu Hua had predicted, the enemy had taken positions on the cliffs, and Shen was left with the field.<p>

Shan's troops hadn't been there much earlier, but early enough that Shen saw no point in trying to capture the cliffs before they'd have dug in. Now he observed as the gorillas rolled the heavy cannons to their positions amidst the long grass. Occasionally a hidden rock made cannon to get stuck, and the gorillas had hard time to get the cannon roll again on the soft, wet soil. The cannons were to be placed in three points behind Shen's lines, their lines of fire covering the whole length of the field.

Shen had half-expected the cobra to make his move immediately as they arrived, but for some reason he was giving him time to set up everything. That concerned Shen a little, but not enough to think it as anything else than a misjudgment from his enemy.

Some cannons were already set up, and the gorillas were barking orders to the wolves that were responsible of carrying barrels of gunpowder and cannonballs to them. Everything was coming along fast enough.

The command tent was set up behind the hill Shen was currently on, out of enemy's sight and reach. Bao Nu was there, going through latest scouting information, and tuning the plans accordingly. In any case, unless the Alliance would attack first, Shen was going to launch his assault at sunset. His wolves were able to fight in dark, but the oxen and boars that made the bulk of the enemy army, less so.

That was why Shen was pretty sure that Shan wouldn't wait that long, and judging how the enemy was forming their ranks at the far end of the field, he was right.

The horizon was turning more and more towards red in shade. It was a little like the colors of his markings, except that it lacked the darkness that made it look like blood. Blood, death and smoke; those were Shen's colors, and he would stay true to them tonight.

Something that caused buzz among his front lines caught Shen's attention. Soon a group of wolves split from the main force and headed towards Shen. As they came closer, Shen noticed a lightly armored, unarmed fox amongst them. The red fox was carrying a white flag.

A messenger.

Sure enough, as the group reached the peacock, a wolf lieutenant saluted him and informed that an Alliance messenger demanded to speak with Shen.

"Speak", Shen said simply, looking at the fox.

"I bring a message from lord Shan and the high council of the Alliance of Seven", the messenger announced. "They want to let you, lord Shen, know that if you don't pull your forces back immediately, they are forced to use military strength to make you to."

Shen chuckled a little, then a little louder, and eventually he full-out laughed. "_That_ is the best threat he can make? _To use military strength…!_" he laughed some more.

After he recovered, he continued: "You may go to tell your lord that if they don't surrender this instant, they'll all die."

The fox seemed to hate how casually Shen said his threat. He waited him to continue, but as he didn't, the messenger bowed and turned to leave.

As the fox gained some distance, the lieutenant spoke again: "Are we letting him leave, my lord?"

"We need him to deliver a message", Shen said, pressing his wingtips together. "Go to the closest battery and tell them to take aim. Fire when the fox is halfway there."

"Yes, sir", the lieutenant bowed and hurried off. The rest of the group followed him.

Shen looked the show amused. Soon enough the cannons boomed and his message was delivered. "That's how you send a message", he mumbled to himself.

The effect to the enemy was immediate: their ranks begun moving restlessly, and messengers were running up and down the cliff. Shen guessed their command was set up somewhere behind the cliff.

"Go fetch the general and alpha", Shen ordered one of the canines guarding him. "The show is beginning; it would be a pity if they'd miss it."

The guard bowed and sprinted down the cliff towards the command tent.

Howls from the scouts between the two armies echoed to Shen's ears, and told the thing that his eyes had picked up too: the enemy was charging.

"Form the lines!" Shen yelled, and nearby officers howled his orders further.

The wolf army was in a small chaos for a moment, individual soldiers shuffling around and taking their places. Few hundred meters behind the lines, battery commanders were taking their places at their cannons.

"Cannons hold fire, archers fire at will!" the peacock cried.

Hundreds of bulky oxen and boars, mixed with some agile foxes and goats, were closing the gap between the two armies fast.

The massive form of the alpha wolf appeared at Shen's right side, and the more slender general at his left.

"Orders, sir?" Bao Nu asked in hoarse voice, trying to get hang of the situation at the same time.

"Go assume the command of the front lines."

"At once, sir." With that, the wolf was off.

"Liu Hua, you stay with me."

"Sir?"

"I need you to relay the orders to the batteries."

"I understand."

The enemy was now within arrow distance, and Shen's archers released an arrow rain on them. The sharp arrow tips tore through leather armor and flesh, and cries of pain echoed to Shen's position.

Most of the enemy was unharmed, though, and now the frontlines clashed with each other. Clanks, thuds and cries marked the beginning of the battle, as swords met other, axes bashed shields and spears stabbed flesh.

It seemed that the Alliance army outnumbered the wolves, not greatly but still. Shen observed the battle silently. Soon it became apparent that the enemy was breaking through from left flank.

"I've seen enough", Shen stated. "Order the cannons to fire in the middle of enemy ranks."

Liu Hua released a long howl that carried the order to the batteries. Flames danced in the twilight as the cannons fired. Hard metal violently made its way through bodies and armor with equal ease, sending severed limbs and other body pieces flying on the living soldiers.

Shen couldn't have enjoyed more. The enemy's terror was so apparent in their screams and panicked moves. He could have almost said that he was happy. Not really, but pretty close. This was the ones who opposed him deserved. This was his justice.

As the cannons fired for the second time, the enemy lines crumbled. Whole platoons broke off and begun mindless retreat back to the cliffs. Those who stayed to fight were defeated fast.

"Chase them to the cliffs! All batteries begin pummeling their defensive positions!"

The cannons were burning through gunpowder and ammo fast, and several gorillas were struggling to resupply them before they ran out. Shards of rock and dust clouded the cliffs as the cannonballs met their marks. If that did not kill the enemy archers positioned there, it certainly messed their aim and concentration. The wolves were free to pursue the fleeing enemy.

Shen followed as the two armies ran across the field. But then, instead of turning into the slaughter Shen had expected, the enemy reformed their lines and put up a significant resistance.

"What…?" Shen voiced quietly. They were in chaos, they were running for their lives; they shouldn't have been able to regroup! Unless… Shen's eyes widened at the thought …it was just an act. But _why?_

Before he had time to ponder it for longer, a scream echoed from the nearest battery: "Snakes, snakes in the grass!"

Shen turned to look, just to see that were some kind of skirmish going on. It was impossible to make out any details due to the thickening darkness.

Some screams more and then a bright light flashed and defeated the shadows for a split second, before everything was engulfed in a thick, black smoke.

"NO!" Shen cried, shocked by the sudden twist. Just then he became aware that the same thing was happening at the both remaining batteries, too. "Protect the cannons! _Do something!_" he yelled, half in general and half to Liu Hua.

The general howled some commands, but it was too late. Similar explosions devoured the remaining batteries. Shen's eyelids were twitching.

That was before the dust cleared from the cliffs, and he saw _hundreds_ of archers pouring from the forest to the cliffs. It was a perfect trap. Regardless of the darkness and the distance, it was clearly visible that the tide was turning now. The wolves were taking heavy losses.

Shen just stood there, an expression of disbelief frozen on his face. His feathers were slowly rising in anger and shock, and he was breathing heavily.

"My lord?" Liu Hua asked cautiously.

"Sound a retreat", Shen stated darkly and turned to walk back to the command tent.

* * *

><p>Shen paced back and forth furiously inside the tent. His commanding officers watched his rage helplessly. <em>Shan knew… of course he did… and he had hidden those snakes there…. argghhhh!<em>

"How many?" Shen asked suddenly, bluntly.

"Sir?" Bao Nu asked.

"The losses! How many!" Shen raged.

"Sir, hundred and eighty-six wolves and fifteen cannons", the alpha wolf informed.

"FIFTEEN CANNONS!" the peacock stopped, yelling out the words. He turned towards the canines, flames dancing in his crimson eyes. "We lost _fifteen_ cannons!"

Even the brute wolf seemed to be a little… uncomfortable at the presence of his enraged lord. "That's right, sir."

"That is almost a THIRD of our cannons! Do you have _any_ idea what that means to the conquest!" Shen felt that if he wouldn't hit something soon he would explode from the frustration. "Guard!"

An armored wolf hurried in, but before he had time to say anything, Shen jumped and kicked him in the face so hard that he flied backwards out of the tent and stayed lying there, unconscious. Shen landed in a crouched position, and remained in it to breathe in deep. Then he straightened up and turned back towards the general and boss wolf.

"Liu Hua, those cannons and wolves need to be replaced. Buy some metal and hire mercenaries from Korea. Also, I want that cobra dead!"

Shen's treasure keeper seemed really troubled by the request. "Sir, you don't have funds for that. And you haven't had any assassins since-"

"I know! I know…" Shen seemed to lose himself into memories for a while. "Forget that. Prepare my flagship for a journey and a platoon of wolves to go with it."

The wolf leaders were taken by surprise.

"My lord, are you going somewhere?"

"Yes, Bao Nu", Shen answered, "I'm going to raise some funds."

* * *

><p>It was raining heavily. Shen and his wolves were soaking wet, but it was not enough to extinguish his determination. Two days ago he had set sails at Lin and headed back for Mi. One day ago he had entered the marshlands West of Mi. Two hours ago they had come out of them. One hour ago it had begun to rain. Now they had the Green City at sight.<p>

At Shen's order the wolves arranged into a formation behind him. He checked that the lines and rows were straight before he took his place at the front, regardless of how uncomfortable the water made his clothes and how his soaked feathers sticked against his skin.

Shen straightened his composure and then gave the order to move. Due to the weather he couldn't make the kind of entrance he would have liked; now he looked like a soaked dog. Not to mention he actually had fifty of those with him.

He wasn't here to fight. What he was going to do was more like collecting taxes, or, well, demanding money for protection. Shen was sure he would succeed; Fei Cui was not in the position to oppose him.

They arrived to the city and continued their march through it, towards the palace. The city had no walls protecting it, and there were no guards at sight. Actually, there was no one at sight, but it didn't really was that big surprise. No one in their right mind would want to be out during that rain.

As they proceeded through the city, they saw many curious faces gathering to the many windows that they passed. Mud splashed at their feet and stained Shen's robes. He regretted not taking something less expensive as now the fine silk clothing was ruined, but it was too late for that.

There seemed to be two guards standing at the palace gates, looking every bit just as pitiful as Shen imagined himself to look. As the magpies in golden armors noticed the rather large, armed group heading towards the palace, they raised their spears and commanded them to halt.

"Who are you? What do you want?" The other gate guard demanded.

Shen took a few steps forward and motioned the wolves to stay behind. "I'm lord Shen", he announced, "and I've come to meet your master. Those are my bodyguards; we are not here to cause trouble."

The guard who had spoken seemed suspicious and didn't seem to recognize Shen's name. The two guards exchanged a few words and then the other one opened the gate slightly, slipped in and closed it after him. The remaining guard faced Shen.

"We'll inform lord Zang of your arrival. If he doesn't grant you an audience, you must leave."

"He will," the peacock smugly stated and walked back to his pack.

Rain kept falling.

Finally the palace door opened and what seemed to be two squads of magpies marched out. At the lead was a magpie with a little more decorated helmet and additionally he was wearing a green cape. The leader gestured the gate guard to open the gates and then proceeded forward until he was almost beak-to-beak with Shen. The magpie looked tense to say the least. At his order the other guards split into two rows with a wide gap between them.

"Lord Shen, I assume?" the leading magpie aimed towards Shen.

Shen raised his eyebrows and looked behind him. Slowly he turned back to face the magpie. "Well… do you think I would be one of _those_?" He pointed towards the canines.

The magpie didn't quite know how to react other than not looking delighted at all.

"I'm captain Que. Now I ask you to come with us; we'll escort you to lord Zang. The wolves must stay here."

"Very well", Shen said, shrugging it off like he didn't care. "Lead me the way."

The captain took a position at Shen's side and the guards escorted them inside the Emerald Palace.

The main hall was magnificent to say the least: the walls were made out of marble and mahogany, and they were decorated with ornate patterns made out of emeralds. At the both sides of the door were huge peacock statues made out of jade. Though regardless of its glory it didn't quite suit Shen's tastes.

Halfway through the hall Shen saw an open doorway to the left and behind that was what seemed to be a training hall. But what really caught his attention was what was _in_ the training hall: a green peacock youth holding weird-looking swords in his wings, standing perfectly still at ready, his eyes closed. The steel armor that the peacock was wearing was polished and shiny, and a green lightweight cape was hanging over his left shoulder.

Shen halted and Que took a few steps before he noticed that the peacock had stopped. Shen raised his wing to silence him before he had time to say anything. The magpie looked at what the white peacock was looking at, and at that moment the green youth at the training hall snapped his eyes open and launched into a furious but graceful blur of swings, strikes and arcing motions. Shen could almost see the heads of the imaginary foes rolling.

"That's prince Hui Huang", Que informed. "He trains hard and often. Now keep moving."

Several ideas bloomed in Shen's mind. The concentration, the motion, the skill… he had found something valuable. Seemed like money wouldn't be the only thing he was going to take with him. He continued walking towards the big doors at the end of the hall with the magpie captain and the escorts, but his mind was working over how he would get what he wanted and how to use it.

They arrived to the golden double doors, and the guard captain halted the escort. He knocked the door lightly and soon they opened. Que motioned the escorts to stay but told Shen to follow him, and then he entered the throne room.

The throne room was rather similar to the main hall, except that there was a lot of gold used in the wall ornaments, and that there was a huge ornamental throne at the other end of the room. Shen wasn't surprised to note that the throne was designed to look like a fanned train of a peacock; there had been similar in the Tower of the Sacred Flame back at Gongmen. Well, not exactly similar, as this one was much more delicate: the feathers were carefully crafted out of gold, and huge emeralds served as the eyespots.

They walked halfway to the throne, and then Que bowed towards the figure sitting at the throne and announced: "My lord, this is lord Shen. I brought him here as you wished."

"Thank you, Que. You may leave us," the sitting figure spoke.

The magpie bowed again and left. The servants that had opened the doors left too, closing the doors after them. The two lords were now alone in the room, and silence landed.

Shen became suddenly rather conscious of his appearance; he was soaked, dirty and his wet train had left a trail of puddles behind him. He had to force himself to block out the flooding memories of his childhood; how he could never live up to other royals' expectations, how there was always something wrong in his behavior, how he was always reminded that his plumage had the color of death… This was his show now, and he wouldn't crumble before any show-off noble. He would never feel ashamed because of his appearance anymore.

The figure sitting on the throne stood up and stared Shen with hard expression. It was a green peacock, some ten years younger than he was, Shen figured. He was wearing a golden helmet-crown with emerald decorations, showy blue robes and an ornate cape.

"Lord Shen", the green peacock started in a loud voice. "How _dare _you march to my province like that, after all you have done!"

"I should order the guards to kill you immediately and relieve China from the thorn that you are!" he continued.

Shen chuckled. "I'd _love_ to see you try, lord Zang… but unfortunately I didn't come here to fight."

"What do you want?" Zang asked bluntly.

"Ah, straight to the business? Very well." Shen walked slowly towards the throne. "You see, these are very unstable times. Whole provinces fall and people die. To my understanding, Fei Cui does not have an army to secure it."

Zang's expression grew harder.

"I came here to offer my protection. It would be tragic if – someone – would set their sights at the undefended, small province and take it by force, don't you think? Imagine all the horrors the people would face! And even worse, the rulers might even lose their _heads_."

Lord Zang's train flared in anger. "Enough! You will not walk to my halls and threaten me like that!" he yelled, stepping down the stairs leading to the throne.

Shen found a sudden interest in playing with his wingtips. "You don't want to take it nicely, do you? Your denial is admirable, but you got nothing to back it up with. Let me break this down to you: I got the superior power in this region. At my command, my army will lay siege to your precious Green City and won't leave a stone on a stone. I can do _anything_ I like with you… and your family. The only reason I haven't attacked already, is because I find it unnecessary. Submit to my demands or let your foolishness destroy your whole nation."

Fei Cui's lord was shaking in bottled rage. He had curled his wings into fists and grinded his beak. After a few deep breaths he managed to talk again: "What are your demands, then?"

"Nothing major for a wealthy province like yours… I want a hundred thousand Yuan now and half of your future income, monthly."

"Half…! Do you know what that would cause to Fei Cui?"

Shen looked around in exaggerated manner. "You'd have to do with a little simpler decorations, I guess. Or alternatively, I can help to repaint these walls… _with blood!_"

Zang's eye's narrowed, and he pondered the options. "Will you guarantee that Fei Cui stays untouched?"

"Yes."

"How can I trust your words?"

"Like I said, as long as you obey, I find no need to waste my time on you."

The green peacock sighed. "Take the money then", he said weakly, turning to climb back to his throne. "But I don't want to see you again", he added.

"One more thing, lord Zang. I want your son."

Zang froze on the spot, slowly turning around. "You _what?_" he hissed.

"The prince, Hui Huang is his name I believe", Shen said innocently, "I saw him training and I was impressed. I'd have a good use for a servant like that."

"You'll NEVER touch my son!"

"Ah, but I don't want to touch him, just merely put his sword skills in use", Shen messed with the distraught ruler.

Lord Zang looked perplexed for a moment, before he understood what Shen had meant. That seemed to only fuel his fury. "I don't care for your word plays. Take all the money you want, but you_ will not _get my son!"

"In that case, I'm afraid we can't have a deal. Are you really willing to sacrifice everything for only one person?" Shen questioned.

"If that one person is my son, then yes", Zang said firmly. "Now, leave!"

"Very well… remember this when-"

"WAIT!" The throne room doors banged open as the prince of Fei Cui stormed in. "Father, please reconsider. You can't risk the whole province because of me!"

Shen was genuinely surprised; had the prince been eavesdropping? That brought him some distant memories of him overhearing a certain prophecy… But anyways, this was interesting; he might get what he wanted after all.

"You don't have a word in this, Hui Huang", Lord Zang said sternly, agitated by his son's sudden entrance.

"No father, if this is about me, I believe I do." The prince was wearing the same outfit than when Shen saw him training, and Shen wondered if he had followed him from the moment he passed the doorway. "Our duty as rulers is to keep our people safe, isn't that what you have always told to me? How could I ever become a good ruler if I cowardly step aside now?"

The lord of Fei Cui sighed in deep. "Hui Huang, this is not about that. You don't understand what that madman would make you to do…! And you'd likely never return!"

"But if I don't go then there is nowhere to return to! I've heard the reports from Mi and Lin, I know what he can do", Hui said, pointing towards Shen, who looked mildly amused of this exchange between father and son. "If this is a way that I can do something, _anything_ to protect you, our people, then I _will_ do it." The prince sounded angry and desperate at the same time.

Zang walked the small distance that was still separating the two. "I understand how you feel", he started quietly, "but I can't afford to lose you too. You will not go."

Anyone else would've felt awkward in the middle of that family conversation, but Shen was beyond petty, _useless_ emotions like those to be disturbed.

Hui Huang tensed considerably. "I'm old enough to decide on my behalf." He turned to walk briskly towards Shen.

"Prince Hui Huang! I'm your father _and_ your lord, and I order you to STOP!" lord Zang yelled, exasperated of his son's denial.

The prince ignored and continued to approach Shen. He stopped a few meters from the white peacock, analyzing him with his gaze.

"I heard you need my services, _old man_", he said challengingly. "But you must _earn_ them first!" That being said, he launched into a full attack, drawing his dual scimitars from his belt on the fly.

Shen was almost taken by surprise. Almost.

The prince might have been a master of sword, but he was young and inexperienced. Plus he didn't have the knowledge of martial arts that Shen had.

Shen crouched to avoid the double sideways slash, and then he rolled to the right and dodged the following rapid stabs. The green peacock swung around on one foot, trying to reach Shen. Shen saw the opening and swiped the floor with his wet-and-heavy train, knocking the youth down. As he tried to get up, Shen proceeded to kick him on his lower jaw, sending him a bit further across the floor.

Hui Huang groaned and tested the insides of his beak with his tongue, but didn't taste blood. He reached out for his blades that had escaped from his grip, and looked at the white peacock. He was waiting in a stance for him to attack again, but there was no mean in it anymore. He had clearly lost.

The prince got slowly up, glancing at his father while doing so. Lord Zang looked shocked of the short fight.

"You want to save your province so badly, thinking you're up to it?" Shen laughed. "If you really think so, then join me."

Hui hesitated. Just as his father bellowed 'NO', he bowed, looking down, and held other of his scimitars in his wings, offering it up to Shen. "Accept this as a sign of my loyalty, lord Shen", he announced, his expression unreadable.

Shen smiled wickedly. "I hope you understand that if you don't follow my orders to the letter, I'll call off this deal and Fei Cui will be at my sights again."

"I do."

"Good. I accept your offer, prince Hui Huang", Shen said and took the blade the prince was holding. "But I still want the money to seal this deal."

"What have you done!" lord Zang cried desperately, looking at his son in disbelief.

"GUARDS!"

The escorts that had waited outside poured now in from the opened doors.

"You will not get away from this!" the ruler aimed the words towards Shen. "Hui, get out of the way", he added.

The guards were getting closer. Shen narrowed his eyes. He casually threw the scimitar back to Hui, and then half-dozen sharp throwing knives appeared into his wings, seemingly out of thin air.

"Father, please, I gave him my word", Hui Huang turned towards his father, pained. He glanced at Shen, and saw infinite confidence. The guards would all die, he realized. "I did what I had to, for you and mother! I promise you won't lose me!"

Something moved behind Zang's eyes. He raised his wing to stop the guards, who obeyed immediately. Shen chuckled. Zang looked down, going through several emotions. Slowly he lifted his gaze back to his son. "I trust you." He smiled sadly. "I accept the deal. My son will join you with the money at sunset. But for now, you must leave", he stated firmly to Shen, leaving no space for objections.

"Very well, I shall wait", Shen responded, pushed the guards out of his way and left.

Hui Huang felt empty. He had no idea where he had put himself into, although he had claimed otherwise. All that knew was that everything would change, and that he had to do it. That was why he had trained all those years. That he could protect his family. That he wouldn't have to face _that _situation never again… That he could make up for his mistake. _But he couldn't, ever_, a little at the back of his voice said. Hui tried to ignore it.

Zang approached his son, and saw the state he was in. He couldn't bring himself to be angry to him anymore. So instead, he placed his wing on his shoulder and said: "I'm proud of you."

Slowly the prince shifted his gaze to his father, his eyes widened a little. "Really?" _I thought I let you down again_, he thought, but didn't voice it. He never did.

"Yes. But I gotta wonder, how you're going to explain this to your mother", a tiny bit of humor glinted at Zang's eyes.

* * *

><p>Lady Mei Yu was heartbroken. No amount of assurance that he'd be fine from her son seemed to help. Partly because Hui wasn't sure himself if he'd be all right, and partly because that's how mothers are.<p>

She had naturally tried to make him abandon the deal, but Hui had to do it. If not for anyone else, he owed it to himself at least.

He unceremoniously packed some things he thought he'd need. He sticked to keeping his armor on, as that was what he'd most likely need. Fortunately the raining had ceased for now.

As Hui descended downstairs to the main hall, he saw his parents waiting for him there. Hui gulped. He hated goodbyes. Not because he didn't want to say goodbye, but because of the emotions that it'd bring up. Hui preferred himself, well, staying cool. What he had said in the throne room was enough.

He had barely managed to set his foot on the hall floor when his mother already squeezed him in a tight hug. Wordlessly Hui accepted the embrace. There were some tears visible at Mei Yu's eyes.

"Do you really have to go?

"Mother, please…" Hui pleaded. "It's for the best of everyone."

"But not yours, or ours", she borderline sobbed.

The prince broke the embrace. "Then I will make it to be."

Lord Zang stepped in to give a heavy-looking sack to Hui. "There's the money for lord Shen, in gold." Hui took the sack and swung it to his back. "I know you can do it, son", Zang encouraged.

Hui nodded, but didn't know what else to say, and thus a silence landed for a moment. "I- I shouldn't keep lord Shen waiting", he finally noted.

"Yes… take care, Hui…" Mei Yu managed to smile weakly.

Hui breathed in deep and walked to the front doors, and then turned around to face his parents one more time. "Father, mother, I promise you this: I will find a way to end this. When this is over, I'll be back."

That being said, Hui hurried outside while he still was able to.

Hui didn't know much of their heading, but figuring from the latest reports of Shen's war efforts at Lin province, that was most likely their destination.

The journey had begun. The journey to the unknown. The journey to darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay, what can I say? Seven friggin' thousand words O.o and only in half of the time that previous chapters took. But I kinda said I've been craving to bring Hui into this... :P**

**I'm a little unsure of the way I presented a few things, but overall I'm happy with this chapter. Now I can begin digging into Hui's thoughts... next chapter will contain some of my longest-planned events in the story. So, until the ch.4: Cike, I'd like a little more reviews. Big thanks to TotallyElena for her reviews, but seriously, I'm sure there's something worth of commenting in the story, let it be positive or negative. I don't mind criticism (I actually welcome it) as long as it isn't flaming.**

**TF out.**


	5. Cike

**~The Darkness Within~**

**-Chapter 04: Cike-**

The journey to Lin was a lot less eventfulthan Hui had thought. He had been waiting for some speeches from lord Shen, telling him his duties and aim of the whole war effort, or at least something. How wrong he had been. Shen didn't _once_ speak to him, and Hui knew that he was not in the position to question that. Instead, Shen had some wolves to keep eye on Hui as he himself lead the party.

Not that he really wanted to interact with the white peacock in the first place, but getting thrown into something blindly was making him nervous. He had no control at all at the moment, regardless of the fact that that was the thing that he had focused in most of his life: having perfect control of himself, from sword strokes to feelings. The fear that was raising its ugly head inside him wasn't something he wanted to experience.

Hui's most pressing concern, though, was not what would happen to him, but to his family. He had promised to protect them, and he intended to keep that promise. But truthfully, he wasn't sure at all if he could do that. He didn't even know what Shen intended to do with him. Even though he was skilled, he knew he wouldn't last long in a battlefield against seasoned soldiers. His style was mostly quick strikes and retreat, and he didn't know how he would do in a prolonged battle against countless enemies.

To successfully save his province, Hui would have to eventually get free from Shen's service. The deal between Shen and Fei Cui would have to be nulled. Hui couldn't see the overly ambitious peacock ever releasing the province from his grip, so he was pretty baffled about what he should do. Obeying Shen would have to do until he'd find a way; there weren't really any other alternatives. Perhaps he could use something to buy Fei Cui free, or something similar.

Two nights after they had left the Emerald Palace they reached the Lin City. Hui had seen it once, years ago, when his father had wanted him to take part in a diplomatic mission to Chao Du She. However, the city looked nothing like the prince remembered; compared to the previous glory, it was now a pitiful sight. Collapsed, ruined, burned buildings scarred the scenery. There were not a living thing at sight; it was rather creepy, actually. Hui wondered if the civilians had fled or if Shen had killed them all…

Getting the feeling that someone was staring him, Hui turned around to see lord Shen behind him, looking amused. Startled, Hui bowed hastily.

"You like what you see?" Shen asked casually, taking a place at the reel next to Hui. "That is the kind of power I hold in my wings: to decide the fates of entire cities…" his voice trailed off.

The green peacock wasn't sure what he should say, the informality caught him off guard. But he didn't have to ponder for long, as Shen broke the silence again.

"My parents were rulers a lot like yours," he started. "But they were also makers of fireworks. Beautiful, intricate fireworks, but still just fireworks." Shen stared in the distance. "I wanted to be more; I knew that I was capable to more than just follow their footsteps. I was right, and they were wrong. Just imagine, if you had the power of the dragons at your reach, would you not reach out for it? The beauty of fireworks turned into weapon unlike anything else the world knows…!"

Shen was still staring at something Hui couldn't see, and he wasn't even sure if Shen even meant the words to him or if he was just talking to himself. It was rather disturbing, taking in account the unsettling glint that was forming into the lord's eyes.

"I will lead whole China into a glorious future, and all people will know to bow before me…" Shen nodded to his own statement, lost in his dreams. After a brief moment of silence he continued, his tone changed from dreamy to grim: "There are those who are as narrow-minded as my parents were, those fools who refuse to see the future. They think they can tell me what is right!" He snorted. "They'll all die."

The way the white peacock said the last words was so determined, so final, so cold that it made chills run down Hui's spine.

"What comes to you, prince, I hope you prove yourself worthy of the deal." Shen was now facing him.

Hui hesitated, but decided that he had to ask. "My lord… what is that you expect from me?" He hated talking to the madman like that, but it was a must.

Shen chuckled. "I want you to be swift as wind, quiet as death and deadly as dragon. I want you to be my secret weapon, my loyal assassin, with strong emphasis on the loyalty."

The information sunk in slowly. _An assassin…_ Hui had suspected it would be either that or bodyguard, but now that it was confirmed he didn't want to accept it. _Assassins are, they are murderers who rip apart families, who ruin lives of the innocent…!_ His mind screamed against the idea of becoming something that he loathed more than anything. Terrible memories from his childhood flooded him along with torrent of emotions: fear, regret, hate, anger. Pain.

That didn't go unnoticed by Shen. "Oh yes, I've heard you have met an assassin before. Such a sad, sad case…" he said, a little mockingly.

Hui's wings clenched into fists and he barely managed to suppress his urge to punch the lord. What did Shen know of his past? He has never experienced a loss like Hui had; how he _dared_ to talk about it with such a tone…!

Hui breathed heavily and looked away instead of giving in to his feelings. One reckless action and he'd doom himself and his province along with him.

"Don't you fancy becoming something more than a victim?" Shen asked sounding honestly curious. "Shadows are feared only by those who don't understand them… become one and see the truth."

The youth pondered the meaning of those words. "The truth?"

Shen chuckled in his now-familiar way. "That you can't hide from death. Claim the lives of unsuspecting animals and feel more alive. Have a purpose. Oh, and of course, _enjoy_ it." That being said, Shen left Hui to enjoy the sunset and think alone.

_To kill, murder the innocent. Is that my destiny?_ How ironic. Like he even had a choice. Hui hated Shen for what he threatened to do to his province, but now he hated him more on what he was forcing him into. Okay, he had stepped up for this voluntarily, but how could he have chosen otherwise? He snarled out of frustration.

Even if he'd become an assassin, how'd he manage it? He could probably handle the killing part, but there was more to it than that. He should master stealth and infiltration, become invisible, or become expert of quick getaways… But in any case he had no other options than play along.

Soon they docked to a lightly damaged port, and Hui saw a welcoming committee of wolves standing in formation at the docks. Among them was one remarkably big and muscular wolf, and he was the first one to greet Shen as he left the ship.

"How was your journey, my lord?" the wolf asked with a deep, hoarse voice.

"Excellent," the peacock replied. "See, Bao Nu, here's my newest servant: prince Hui Huang of Fei Cui. A solution to the assassin problem," he presented Hui.

The wolf seemed to be of very high rank, so Hui bowed to him. The brutish canine examined him thoroughly with his gaze. From what Hui could interpret from his expression, he was skeptical of Shen's statement.

Finally Bao Nu commented simply: "He's young."

Shen chuckled it off. "Yes, but certainly not a hatchling."

"Sir, I don't– we should discuss certain matters with general Hua."

Shen turned serious. "Naturally. I have things to _discuss_ too. Show the prince a place to spend the night at, then collect Liu Hua with you and meet me outside the gates."

Bao Nu bowed, gestured some wolves to accompany him and bluntly told Hui to follow him. They walked along the rubble-filled streets of Lin City. The descending darkness was ideal to support the eerie vibe he had gotten off the city while viewing it from the river. The further they got from the river, the less there were visible damages on the buildings. Though, there were clear signs that the houses and shops had been plundered by the wolf army.

Eventually they reached the northern city wall. There were two-storey houses built along the wall, but now it seemed as if they served as barracks to the wolves. Patrols were circling around the nearest blocks, and guards were posted at the doors of the houses. One patrol seemed to be placed on the wall.

The commanding wolf waved some guards to him, and then discussed something in a low voice with them. Soon he grunted and motioned his group, including Hui, to follow him again. The guards returned to their posts.

The air was getting chilly and first stars became visible at the time they stopped in front of an old-looking, wooden, two floors tall house. Bao Nu proceeded to open the door and walk in, and Hui followed with the rest of the wolves. Inside there were some canines apparently just hanging around a lit fireplace, laughing at each other's jokes. Upon seeing the commander, they immediately snapped to attention.

"Commander, this-"

"At ease, soldier," the alpha cut the soldier off. "I was told you have free space here?"

"That's right, sir. There's a whole room empty on the second floor, though it is a little… ascetic."

"It will do perfectly. Let me present you his majesty prince Hui Huang, your roommate for this night," Bao Nu sneered. "Well, where are your manners? Bow in the presence of royalty", he added, not in any less ridiculing tone.

Hui felt his cheeks burning in embarrassment as the soldiers bowed and said 'your majesty'. Of course he was used to people bowing him, but these wolves were clearly mocking him. Hui didn't like Shen, but apparently his head officer was a jerk too. If he'd have had his scimitars with him, he would've seriously considered chopping some heads off.

It was getting quite packed inside, and Bao Nu ordered harshly his guards back outside. Next he addressed the wolves inside: "Show the prince his quarters and let him settle down. I must ask you to NOT disturb him in any way, he's very precious to lord Shen."

As the soldiers glanced at each other and snickered, the high general had to snort in amusement, knowing his men's thoughts. "Not in _that_ way. Probably. In any case, that's not my business. The point was, if you harm him, I'll see personally that you all are hanged. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" The soldiers assured.

"What comes to you, peacock: don't try anything stupid. I'll get someone to fetch you early at the morning, so be prepared." With that the alpha wolf left, leaving Hui alone with seven unfamiliar, almost thug-like soldiers. Needless to say, he didn't like the situation at all. Of course, that could be applied to almost anything that had happened during the last few days, so it wasn't as unsettling as it could've been.

Hui looked around awkwardly until one of the wolves stepped up. "Shall I show you your suite, _my prince?_" the canine suggested, and the others burst out laughing. Hui ground his beak.

"Please don't talk like that," he said, highly annoyed.

"My apologies, _your highness_, but I thought this was the proper etiquette?" the soldier continued his little show. The others were howling in laugher now.

"Just- Just show me my room, okay?" Hui wanted nothing more than to just get out of this situation, the faster the better.

"My pleasure," the wolf said with a stupid smirk pasted on his muzzle, earning some more laughs.

Fortunately the wolf actually did that now, and leaded Hui up a narrow stairway. The building didn't seem to be in a very good condition, and there wasn't much furniture, so the family that had lived there probably hadn't been very wealthy. After the stairs there was a short hallway with one door on both sides, and the hall itself opened to a larger room, which was notably empty. Hui guessed the wolves had carried the possible chairs, couches or tables downstairs to the fireplace.

The soldier opened the door to the left and held it open for the prince. "Your room. It includes a wooden bed and even a blanket, and _that_'s a luxury!"

Hui stepped in and observed the surroundings. The room was rather small, holding nothing of interest outside a bed, small table beside it and two shelves on the walls. At the opposite wall to the door was a small window with shutters closed.

"Like it?" the wolf asked. "No? Too bad. If you need something, don't ask me," he stated and left back downstairs.

Hui closed the door silently and sat down on the bed. He sighed in deep and buried his head in his wings. So much had happened, and still he had the feeling that it was just the beginning. Which probably was true. He closed his eyes and listened the sound of his own breathing. He noted that the armor was really pressing his neck and back now after two days of wearing it. Lazily Hui straightened himself and removed his light cape. Then he fingered (feathered?) the locks holding the armor pieces in their place, first opening and removing the neck pieces and finally the plate body. The shirt he wore underneath was filthy, reminding him of the day spent at Fei Cui's marshlands.

He sighed again.

Now his attention was caught by his train: it was dirty and messed. When he had been smaller, he couldn't have waited for his train to begin growing. Now he had realized it wasn't that great. He had to always carry something that weighed quite a lot to be just feathers, got always in the way and was hard to maintain in good condition. His train wasn't even fully grown yet, so it was only getting more troublesome. And for what, exactly? Aside from the few applications in combat, its only purpose was to attract the ladies… that weren't really his concern at the moment.

Yawning, Hui stripped the ragged shirt and removed his combat skirt. He unfurled the blanket and lied down on the bed. It was rather uncomfortable, but it'd do. It was better than what he had had for the last two nights anyways. Some loose thoughts circled around in his mind, but he didn't bother to focus on them, and slowly he drifted to sleep.

* * *

><p>Morning came sooner than he wished. At one moment Hui was sleeping peacefully, the next the door was banged open and a wolf yelled something about lord Shen requiring his presence somewhere right now. Hui didn't quite catch everything the canine shouted, but the general meaning was understandable enough. He groaned and bolted up. The wolf said something about getting downstairs in five minutes and then left.<p>

Lacking options, Hui wore his stained shirt, and proceeded to get his armor on. While doing that, he made the mental note to demand Shen to give him some more clothes, if he really wanted him as assassin. With the armor on, he once more cringed at the state of his train, before hurrying downstairs.

It was empty there aside from the one wolf that had come to fetch him. The reason was apparent too: the sun wasn't rising yet, and it was pretty dark outside.

Noticing him, the wolf grunted "Good," and tossed a loaf of bread to Hui. He told him to eat it as they'd walk to Shen. With no need to stay any longer they stepped outside, and the cool but moist air brushed against Hui's feathers. It would've been cold there had they stood in place, but as they walked at a brisk pace it was nothing to worry about.

As they walked along the city wall they occasionally met some patrols, and the guardsmen all saluted Hui's 'guardian'. He was apparently an officer of some sort, though Hui didn't know how the wolf army was ranked and how to identify each rank. Another problem was that even if he'd know how to read the insignias, he still didn't know what his status was here. It seemed to be a mixture of special guest and a prisoner at the moment, and that didn't help at all. He knew he wasn't part of the army, yet at least, but it'd have been helpful to know how react to wolves around here. Foremost, he didn't want to face the royalty mockery he had received yesterday; he'd rather be considered as an ordinary soldier in rank.

They proceeded out of the northern city gates with little hassle; the guards had obviously been informed of who Hui was.

Now, as the sky was lighting up from the nearing dawn, Hui could see a whole village of tents spread on the fields ahead. There were some armed wolves patrolling around, but otherwise it was almost eerily silent. Hui caught a sight of a big tent placed on a small hill behind the main 'village', and that seemed to be where the wolf was taking him.

They were pretty close to the tent when a tall, muscular wolf suddenly came out. Hui instantly recognized the alpha wolf, who ignored both the green peacock and the saluting wolf officer escorting him.

"Our lord is in a bad mood…" the officer muttered to himself.

A little hesitantly they crossed the remaining distance to the command tent. The wolf told the tent entrance guard to inform lord Shen that the prince was here. They didn't have to wait at all; Shen himself appeared in front of them almost immediately. The wolf bowed and said 'my lord', and Hui mimicked him.

Shen looked worn-out, regardless of that he had changed the robes that were ruined during the trip to Fei Cui. The new robes were showier, with a lot more black than the old ones had had. However that wasn't enough to divert attention from the dark bags below his bloodshot eyes. Hui wondered if the peacock lord had slept at all during the last night.

"Dismissed," Shen said absent-mindedly to the officer, who retreated back towards the city. Shen stared to the horizon for a while, apparently trying to focus his tired mind a little.

"Can you handle this?" He asked abruptly.

"My lord?" Hui wasn't exactly sure what Shen was referring to.

"Are you prepared to become the reaper? Are you tough enough to take what it gives? Are you prepared to kill on my command, just to keep your family save? If you hesitate at all, I don't have any use for you and we can forget the deal."

Shen was really blunt and arrogant, but the questions themselves were good. Hui had mulled over them for a while. But now, he had an answer ready. "As long as you stay true to your word, lord Shen, I will keep mine," Hui stated defiantly.

Shen smirked. "As expected… that's good. Liu Hua!" he yelled, and the wolf in question appeared from inside the tent as he was summoned.

Hui observed the slim wolf. There was something sneaky in his appearance, and Hui wouldn't have trust anything to this canine if he had got the power to decide.

"Bring the prince's equipments," Shen ordered, and the wolf disappeared back into the tent. Turning back to Hui, he continued: "I will have to test you to find out if you _really_ are worthy of becoming my servant. Beat the combat task I present to you soon, and you'll be trained as my assassin. I presume I don't have to remind of the stakes?"

Hui merely grunted as acknowledgment.

Liu Hua came back, carrying Hui's twin scimitars. He handed them over to the peacock, who placed them to his belt.

"Have you arranged everything?" Shen questioned his general.

"Yes, sir, the platoon is waiting at the sand field," the wolf replied.

"Good. Lead as the way."

So the two peacocks followed the canine's lead over a short distance to a bland, rocky clearing between two grassy fields. Like Liu Hua had said, a whole platoon of wolf troops was waiting for them there. Hui wondered why they needed a whole platoon; surely Shen wouldn't make him to fight them all?

As if reading his mind, Shen explained: "Audience creates pressure, and I want to see how you do under pressure."

Fine enough. Hui nodded.

"The only rule will be this: you're not allowed to leave the sandy area. Keep it in mind." Shen walked over to the platoon, which was standing in line at the border of the grass. Hui was now standing alone in the middle of the pebbled area.

"But, my lord, what shall I do?" the green peacock asked, a little confused.

Shen walked along the line, observing the wolves. He stopped in front of two sword-wielding ones and chuckled ominously.

"You survive or die… You two," he pointed the swordsmen, "KILL HIM!"

"W-what!" Hui whimpered, caught totally off-guard. But the two charging wolves didn't leave much room for explanation, and thus he quickly drew his blades.

His adrenaline rush kicked in, and he blocked off the first strikes like he had used to do back at Fei Cui. The only thing that he didn't count was that his opponents were stronger than anything he had faced at home, and that they were dead serious. Absorbing the force of the blows really hurt his wings, and it was close that he didn't drop the swords in shock.

_Don't ever underestimate your opponents_, master tiger's voice rang in his mind. Though, it wasn't really underestimation, but lack of preparation for a 'test' like this.

Hui leaped backwards, and the bigger of the two wolves followed for another strike. The peacock blocked it tardily. The impact made him cringe in pain again. His wings couldn't take many of these hits; he had to change his tactics.

The other swordsman, smaller in body size but wielding a larger, broad-bladed sword, tried to circle around to his back while the other wolf kept him busy. Hui had switched to parrying the blows instead of blocking, and he was doing better now. Though, there were two things that were holding him back: this was not training, and the consequence of a mistake would be death, so he was hesitant to try to attack at all in the fear of giving an opening to the enemy. The other thing was that he had never been in _real_ combat, and the thought of really slicing through someone seemed so very final now. The hits he'd land or receive could not be undone.

_Concentrate!_ He slapped himself mentally as a heavy blade swung dangerously close to his head.

Hui retreated at steady pace, making sure that the other wolf couldn't get behind him. His heart was pounding faster as he noted that the canines were pressing him towards the field's edge. Stepping on grass would be a failure, so he'd be basically cornered there. He breathed harder as he tested his opponent's defenses.

The wolf didn't budge.

Getting more nervous, Hui took another step backwards – and felt his heart miss a beat as the ground slipped under his feet and he fell and fell and fell…

He hit the ground right side-first, but didn't have time to even curse his train that had found its way under his feet, as the bigger wolf was already towering over him. Hui's eyes widened in fear as the wolf raised his sword up with both paws and stroke down.

The only move he had time to do was raising his left wing to block the attack. The shock of the impact of blade meeting blade shook him to the core, and he felt his wing going numb. But, the strike was stopped.

Hui rolled over his right side and bolted up. The scimitar was dropped from his now useless left wing. _Now or never_, he decided as the wolf, who had less maneuverable weapon and was generally less mobile, was only just preparing for next blow. Hui dashed the ground between them with his train and sent a cloud of dust, sand and some pebbles flying on the canine.

The wolf yelled and covered his eyes instinctively with his free paw, which was an amateurish mistake. Hui thrust forward with his remaining scimitar, using his whole body to give force to the stab. He made himself the mistake of closing his eyes, but this was the first time he landed such a hit on a living being. He felt the steel connect with the body; plunging trough the weak leather armor first and then driving deeper, crushing some ribs and then coming to halt, firmly lodged in the chest of the wolf.

Split-second later Hui felt something warm pouring on his wing, and he snapped his eyes open. The first thing he registered wasn't how red liquid poured out from the certainly lethal wound, how his blade and wing was getting stained, or even how the other wolf a little behind the first had halted for a moment in surprise and shock. No, the only thing that caught his attention was the eyes. The red eyes of the wolf were fixed on his greens, full despair, disbelief, fear.

It was like the world had frozen and there was nothing but him and the canine. A killer and his victim. The crimson eyes seemed to ask 'why', and Hui wasn't sure who was more horrified, the wolf or he himself. Then the eyes glazed over, the body fell on its knees and the moment shattered.

All the sounds suddenly returned; the audience bellowed and the remaining soldier roared in anger. Hui would have probably just stood there temporarily stunned and got slain, if his survival instincts hadn't yelled for him to move. Hui jerked the blade out from the wolf's chest and leaped backwards, just in time to avoid an unhealthy contact with a broadsword.

He wryly noted that the feeling was returning to his left wing, and with that, pain. Like he wasn't already distracted enough. The fight felt like a dream now. His movements were sluggish and he couldn't concentrate. The eyes of the dying wolf had captured him. He had taken a life, and he was forced to realize that he couldn't simply shrug it off. Those eyes… And as all that wasn't bad enough, he also noted, to his dismay, that he couldn't handle fighting with a single blade as well as he should have. He had omitted normal training as he had focused in dual-wielding. That seemed idiotic now.

The wolf was pressing him towards the edge again, and it was working. Hui couldn't get close enough to the wolf with the big sword to land a hit, or even ease the pressure. With two blades it would've been, if not easy, still manageable enough. This way he only wore himself out by constantly parrying hits that he couldn't dodge.

The audience was now mere two meters behind him, and the space was running out. Panic was trying to take him over and he had to struggle to stay calm. _Take it easy, take it easy… dodge! …good. Now parry…! Stay calm… _Hui clenched his left wing into fist. This was not what was supposed to happen. He promised to protect his home; it was simply not an option to die here, so soon.

Hui tried to slash at the wolf's feet, but it was easily blocked as he had expected. He followed the strike with swift kick at his opponent's right arm, hoping to make him lose his grip from the heavy weapon.

It didn't only fail to work, but the canine also kicked him back immediately while he was still on one foot, and the impact to his chest made him stagger backwards. Hui almost hit the soldiers standing in line at the edge of the 'play' area. He breathed heavily, maintaining control of his wearied body. He knew he couldn't match the strength of the wolf, nor could he maneuver around his defense. Not anymore.

Hui glanced at his audience. The wolves didn't hide their eagerness to see the peacock getting beaten. Maybe it was justified; he had killed their comrade after all…

A little behind them, Shen was observing from higher ground. His expression was almost unreadable, save for the hint of displeasure.

There wasn't much Hui could do. It was the harsh truth. With some sort of distraction he could possibly land a hit, but there wasn't anything suitable to do that with. Hui wasn't willing to risk exposing his back to use his train again. There weren't rocks sizeable enough to throw and cause some damage. Nothing. If he'd had his other scimitar, he could try throwing it, but alas, it was unreachable behind his opponent.

Hui backed along the edge as the wolf begun to approach again. His eyes darted on the weapons hanging from belts of the lined soldiers. A crazy thought occurred to him. After a second of frantic search with his gaze, he spotted a suitable one.

Switching the blade to his left wing, which was just able to hold it, he reached out and grabbed something from the belt of the nearest soldier. The wolf in question yelped in surprise, and the rest shouted at the outrageous act. He quickly sidestepped away from the line and unfurled the item he had taken with a swift swing.

Crying in anger, the wolf rushed towards him, sword held high above his head. Hui slashed quickly with his new weapon, and sharp crack cut air as the tip of the weapon broke the sound barrier.

The wolf howled in pain as a bright red gash appeared to the left side of his neck. His concentration was broken and he tilted towards right just before he brought down the sword. That allowed Hui to avoid the blow by diving forward, passing the canine.

He followed with another attack with the whip immediately after, slashing the wolf at the unprotected hams. Yelling, the canine fell to his knees. Hui leaped to him, throwing the whip off and switching the scimitar back to his good wing on the fly, and held the blade against the wolf's throat from behind.

Hui breathed out in relieve. Then he breathed in deep and let it go again. It was over. The wolf dropped his sword and froze in place, unable to move without getting his throat cut. After Hui's heartbeat had calmed down a bit, he turned his head to look at Shen, expecting him to declare the match finished.

Shen's gaze was cold and expecting. "The fight hasn't ended yet," he simply stated as Hui kept staring him.

"But- my lord, I have clearly won," Hui countered, not willing to see where this was going.

The white peacock snorted. "As my assassin, you _will_ _not dare_ to come to me until your targets are dead. The same applies to this test. Don't keep me waiting."

Hui looked down. He could not believe this. Shen expected him to kill someone who was helpless and totally at his mercy? _That's what assassins do_, a teasing voice whispered to him inside his head. _Didn't you agree to become an assassin to protect those dear to you?_

Well, he did, but… this was just so wrong. The wolf was all tensed up and breathing shallowly, his eyes closed. He had prepared to die. At that moment Hui hated himself. _Do it!_ The voice commanded. His memory brought him back to the moment years ago, under a certain tree at the palace courtyard, when the panther had pinned him down and prepared to kill… there had been no empathy or mercy in the feline at all.

If that was what he was becoming into, then this wouldn't be anywhere near worth it. _But what about your family? Do you want them to die like Jiao did?_ The voice reasoned.

Anger flashed in his face. He wasn't supposed to think about that name! Nor was he breaking his promise. But he couldn't just kill like that. He wasn't that brutal. Right? _Kill or be killed; life is tough. Don't let that insignificant creature hold you back!_

No. He wouldn't become an executioner.

_Do it._

No.

_Do it!_

No!

_NOW!_

It happened like in slow motion. Hui yelled out the frustration from his inner conflict. At the same time he straightened his right wing in swift motion, pointing the blade towards horizon. The world turned static and Hui turned his gaze towards the skies. He had lost this one.

Even though he closed his eyes, he still heard the gurgling noises. They were soon followed by a thump, and then it was silent. He was expecting some cheering, booing or just general roaring from the platoon, but got nothing but silence. He was glad of that, but it made his actions seem more absolute. Like he had thought earlier; they could not be undone.

Slowly he lowered his wing and opened his eyes. The wolf's body was lying in front of him in a small but growing puddle. It was an animal that he had murdered. His second. Hui felt sick twist in stomach.

So focused he was in these dark thoughts, that he had failed to heard or notice how Shen had ordered the platoon in two lines, forming an aisle from him to Hui.

"Prince Hui Huang, come here," Shen commanded.

It was better to obey or it all was in vain, Hui thought bitterly. He was about to place the scimitar to his belt, when he happened to glance at its bloodied blade. He dropped it in disgust.

He walked between the two lines to the peacock lord, but it all felt somehow unreal. As Shen asked him to kneel, he obeyed without thinking much. It was easier if he just didn't think.

"My congratulations, seems like I'll get a good, obedient assassin after all. Your job will be tough, dirty, and certainly not glorious*."

"I can handle it," Hui stated darkly.

"Yes, but I think a better name is in place. The prince has turned into a reaper. Hui Huang becomes… Cike."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Dun dun dun :D**

**I don't think I've mentioned it here, but Cike was the name I developed my OC with. It means assassin. Hui Huang came into play later when I needed a more sensible birthname.  
><strong>***=Hui Huang means glorious. (At least, it is supposed to. If not, I blame translators.)**

**Cike's story, like he will be called from now on, is not a stroll in a park. You're in for a rough ride! :P**

**anon: Yes, I have some plans for them. They will not be forgotten.**

**All in all, I've reached an important point in the story. We shall see where this goes from there. (Of course, I know where this goes, but you shall see xD )**

**Thanks for the reviewers, especially Hymenocallis Caribaea! You made me to pay more attention to the details :)**

**TF out.**


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